Forum Topic

Are you ready for your digital ID? Because the government are

Watching the news recently is making we wonder where society is headed, in a bigger picture kind of way.Currently, we are experiencing increasing debt & inflation, social unrest, 1970s style queues and shortages etc. Interest rates can’t be lowered any further to stimulate the economy. Normally at this point the monetary system will collapse and a new one emerge. A reset, if you will.This will be the first time in history where the reset will be digital. The government needs to ensure they gain more control over citizens' digital identity during this reset, but how? How could a government get citizens to voluntarily opt in to being assigned a digital ID that can be used to record, monitor, track and amend their personal information? Well, if you’ve had your vaccines, as I have, you just signed up to it. At first, it tracks our vaccine status and then expands out into other digital information such as further medical history, location tracking (test and trace) and think of where this could go. When a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is launched, it can use the same system to limit your access to your own money. Protest against the government? Fine - we’ll rescind access to your digital ID for a period of weeks so you can’t access your own money/healthcare services/travel. It’s a digital lockdown. This is fundamentally different to what has gone before i.e. a disconnected set of government issued ID numbers such as tax numbers, NHS numbers, NI numbers that don’t talk to each other. This is now an holistic and coherent digital identity giving the government the capability to control your access to venues, travel, locations, money, health services; to take money from you at source and at will.How would you feel about this?

Jo Amadi ● 1586d22 Comments

Watched it. The man really is bonkers . Keep an eye out for the bogeyman

Andy Pike ● 1564d

Russell brand explains Davos and the Great Reset https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD-ioJM8v64

Colin Redmond ● 1564d

The new proposed CBDC, and the many changes regarding personal privacy/private ownership on the world economic forum website provide a glimpse into the changing world and the future.Interesting that the 'conspiracy theorists' of a year ago who were laughed at, are proving to be more accurate than those who laughed at them.

Tim Wood ● 1564d

My theory is that Jo Amadi works for a shady branch of the govt security services, and has been tasked with engaging with people on social media to post ludicrous conspiracy theories so as to soften us up to be sceptical of such stuff, so that the dark state can operate without scrutiny 😃

Sean Hodges ● 1564d

More evidence as Rishi talks about the new digital currency linking bank accounts in the future directly to the central bank rather than the current retail banks.Every single payment people make in the future will be tracked via the CBDC, no more cash and no more privacy.https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1448645652439715851The Covid passports are starting to make sense. It's not about the virus, it's about state control and digital identities.

Colin Redmond ● 1564d

The last ID card / digital citizen database attempt got well and truly skewered by those opposing it, by direct and indirect means.  Have a read of the legislation and there were so many holes in it, it was doomed to fail. The civil service were against it (not publicly of course), the house of Lords were against it, and a lot of MPs were against it for all the reasons you have stated.Whilst digital IDs have proliferated (gov gateway, NHS ID, experian / equifax, phone number, email, facebook, google, Apple etc) you can exist without one, and I think it will stay that way.  There is no way the Global banks will cede that much power to the government without being forced to by law.It is chaos, but British chaos, and we are free(ish)!

Alan Sherman ● 1586d

Yes, I am aware about the setting up of the taskforce.  However, being very cynical, and using a quote from Yes Minister made by Nigel Hawthorne:"If a government wishes to be seen to be taking action on something it does not quite believe in, it creates a committee/taskforce....."A bit of paraphrasing here, I admit, but the message is the correct one.

Ivonne Holliday ● 1586d

It has absolutely nothing to do with vaccination Matt. The argument is that the NHS/Covid/vaccine tracking systems will later be used as the backbone for digital currency (with the veiled implication: "Their out to get you! Avoid the vaccine". In fact, piggy-backing the nation's financial system on the NHS app is about as likely as doing it on the cycling proficiency test record system.As a subject on its own, divorced from the anti-vaxx nonsense, there is a future possibility of digital currency being introduced in the UK and of it involving a unique personal id. There is then the POSSIBILITY that the state could mis-use such a system and it would be important IF SUCH A SYSTEM EVER CAME TO BE INTRODUCED to look carefully at the proposals and the controls in place to stop such abuses. I'm not sure what I could do even if I believed this nonsense and wanted to opt out. Firstly deny myself the vaccine and put myself, and others at greater risk of death or serious illness from Covid. Then come the introduction of the digital currency system, I'd have to become a financial outcast and scrape by existing on the basis of bartering for food. Might make a good sci-fi film...........

Michael Winstanley ● 1586d

Ash, I don't want to sound complacent.  Some people already have bank accounts cancelled without reason because banks suspect illicit transactions, and MIFiD II regulations mean that all ones trades are tracked with your NI number. People use electronic transfers for convenience but there are still people holding out and using cash. Given some of the performance issues in building large blockchain/DLTs and the difficulties many large government IT project experience I'm not sure I'm that worried at present:-)

Michael Ixer ● 1586d

sorry but what's that got to do with whether people have been vaccinated or not?instead of making obtuse comments why not just post something we can read? (not a random you tube commentator please)

Matt Palmer ● 1586d

As a couple of people have pointed out above and for those finding it hard to grasp, the best way to look at it is that we are slowly moving from the current old system to a new digital system.Old money out and new money in. No more cash!

Ben Toney ● 1586d

Michael, all the current ID numbers from NHS numbers to personal and finance ID are currently held on different data bases owned by different private and public companies/government departments. Very few of these current systems marry up.The new proposed personal digital ID will all be held as one on a blockchain within the next decade. We currently have our retail bank accounts giving us a little bit of privacy between us and the government, but when the CBDC come into existence the retail banks as we know them today will cease to exist. We will lose all privacy, as the central bank/government will have all the control. Every CBDC payment will be directly traceable as we will live in a cashless society.Governments will be able to directly take tax from one individual CBDC account whilst at the same time directly depositing funds into another.It is believed the chancellor has already made reference to the new CBDC being called a 'Britcoin'!The more you research the more it all makes sense.We are in the process of switching from analogue to digital.It will be easy for the central banks/government to cancel anyone that doesn't comply.

Ash Jones ● 1586d

Good links IvonneNo decision has been taken in the UK as you rightly point out. Perfectly understandable as it's relatively early days for the UK in that arena. I note that many governments, including the UK, are investing heavily in 'exploring' the topic so personally I believe it's fair to assume it may be on the future horizon, even though it's not right now. Source/Example: Rishi Sunak has set up a "Central Bank Digital Currency Taskforce" His LinkedIn post and some interesting debate from LinkedIn members on the implications can be read here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/rishi-sunak-4361871a5_blockchain-fintech-innovation-activity-6825440508790366208-sOIj/

Jo Amadi ● 1586d

What on earth are you talking about? Analog vs digital what? Cameras? Telephone dials? Computers? We've lived in the digital age for most of my lifetime. I have done post graduate research in control* theory and have used computer languages from Fortran (50 years ago) to Python (last week). This "dinosaur" jibe is thus well off the mark - and also remarkably ageist. However, the "vaccination is all about state control" spiel is a well-worn and recognised conspiracy theory which is repeatedly being picked up by the gullible and spread on social media. Believing this sort of tosh is not "thinking outside of the box" it is on the way to being totally out of one's box. Spreading it around, together with the rest of the anti-vaxx untruths which often accompany it is also sociopathic behaviourFolding the story into the (genuine) possibilities of electronic currency being adopted is just a sneaky way to try to make the sad story seem a little more plausible. See here for example "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-57532368"*Control theory as in a branch of electronics, not some whacky mumbo jumbo about mind control!

Michael Winstanley ● 1586d

I googled CBDC and these are the articles I found:From the Bank of England  (could not find the date but there are links with information in June 2021)https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/research/digital-currenciesFrom Investopedia dated 21 August 2021https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/central-bank-digital-currency-cbdc.aspFrom Wikipedia, which provides a list of countries that are discussing the advantages and disadvantages of launching CBDCs.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_bank_digital_currencyWhat do the articles have in common?  No decision has yet been taken in the UK.

Ivonne Holliday ● 1586d

We've had ID numbers for years- national insurance numbers, which are also linked to tax references. Additionally, try opening a bank account or carrying our some other financial transaction without a passport and/or driving licence, although it not be the government but some other agency or commercial credit checker that's vetting the identities any anomalies with them may well end up reported to agency such as the FCA. The main aspect is that it's important to have independent judicial vetting to ensure government powers are kept in check  - hence the importance of a strong independent judiciary arm and the importance of the human rights act and the ECHR, etc. 

Michael Ixer ● 1586d

I can see thinking outside the box isn't your approach Mr Winstanley.You come across as a bit of a dinosaur in your thinking.I prefer analogue myself, but I am open to the fact that a digital age is upon us.I prefer to have an open mind and not be narrow minded about change unlike yourself.

Colin Redmond ● 1586d

It is a shame for this nonsense to be labelled "thinking".What is an even greater shame is that spreading this sort of nonsense on social media might deter one or more people from getting one or more of their Covid jabs, with all the consequences which could flow from that. Consider that "what if".

Michael Winstanley ● 1586d

@Jo 12.09Fortunately we don't live in China or North Korea where this type of total control could be possible.  I am certain though that the authorities here already know much more about us than we are aware of.  The only people necessarily exempted from this scrutiny are the many 1000's who have entered the country illegally and are living under the radar.  However at some stage most of them will have to see a doctor or may be admitted to hospital so their details could be put into an ID system at that time.I am 💯in favour of ID cards and would also like us to have a national databank which would contain the fingerprints of everybody born here, plus the people who migrate here. Babies could be fingerprinted automatically at birth and the NHS could also take them from everybody using the health system.  Would be an ongoing project obviously but invaluable in the long term

Sue Hammond ● 1586d

Hi Jo, All your points are very valid.If people care to do their own research they will find info about the CBDC which the BOE have talked about recently.Also the World Economic Forum clearly spells out the direction we are heading.There are some very naïve sheep out there who just keep calling everything a conspiracy theory.The digital identity adds up with the insistence everyone is vaccinated. Why vaccinate children when there are currently zero deaths of children without an underlying condition?I agree, it's all in preparation for a citizens digital identity.Many world leaders talk about 'building back better' and some world leaders have recently starting talking about 'A New World Order'  We are slowly moving from an analogue world to a digital world but many are unaware.

Ben Toney ● 1586d

It's a shame that critical and sceptical thinking is labelled as conspiracy. Don't you ever think, what if?Perhaps the government has more to gain from nationwide digital ID than getting petrol to pumps for a week or two. If it was a private company, strategic decision making would be commercial acumen, but because it's the government, considering their motivations is a conspiracy?

Jo Amadi ● 1586d

I feel it is an anti-vaxxer fantasy story. And I appreciate that you said you'd been vaccinated. But what you've written is a simply re-working of a conspiracy theory which has been circulated by such people for over a year. Imagine such a sophisticated scheme being operated by a government that can't even make sure that supplies of basic commodities to the public are maintained!

Michael Winstanley ● 1586d