Post

More from @BigBrotherWatch

Big Brother Watch

@BigBrotherWatch

Oct 6

🔴LIVE COVERAGE | Starmer’s Checkpoint Britain: How digital ID threatens our rights

The Government wants to introduce a national mandatory digital ID scheme that would make us all reliant on a digital pass to go about our daily lives.

Since the announcement, politicians from every single party elected in Parliament have spoken out against these plans.

Even the former ID cards minister, now Mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, has rejected digital ID, saying, “not now”.

Today, we're in Manchester hosting a vital discussion during #CPC25 on the serious risks posed by digital ID to our rights and freedoms

Follow for updates🧵

👁️"With digital ID, we risk sleepwalking into a system of constant surveillance of data

I've just come back from Estonia [where there is digital ID] and there's an ongoing joke...that if you run out of toilet paper, you don't need to call room service; they'll just hear you

There's a different culture of surveillance there."

Our legal and policy officer, Jasleen Chaggar, opens the discussion explaining why British policymakers should be wary of international digital ID comparisons.

"I am with free Britain, I have the right to be here",

@DavidDavisMP recalls the history of ID cards in Britain.

From WWII IDs, to Blair-era ID cards introduced in the wake of 9/11 and vaccine passports in 2021, the British public has repeatedly and successfully fought against identity card schemes.

We must fight plans for a mandatory digital ID, too.

Read 6 tweets

Big Brother Watch

@BigBrotherWatch

Oct 6

👁️The Government is planning to CRACK DOWN even more on free speech in Britain by seeking to restrict repeat protests

"The freedom to protest has never been a right only to be exercised where and when it’s convenient to those in power, but precisely the opposite.

It’s one of the most essential tools the public has hold power to account.

Repeated demonstrations have long been tools for change in our country, from women’s rights to workers’ rights.

For the government to mount this new attack on protest at a time when many thousands of people on the right and left of politics are exercising their freedom to assemble appears like a cynical attempt to suppress dissent.

We urge parliamentarians to protect Britain’s ancient tradition of free speech and reject this chilling, cumulative attack on our right to protest.”

- Silkie Carlo [@silkiecarlo]

We've long defended the right to protest in Britain

We defeated draconian plans to ankle-tag campaigners that would have attacked and extreme police powers during the pandemic

Find out what actions you can take in our fight for a free future⤵️
bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/subscribe

Read our statement in full⤵️
bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases…

Read 4 tweets

Big Brother Watch

@BigBrotherWatch

Sep 29

🔴LIVE COVERAGE | Labour’s Checkpoint Britain: How Digital ID threatens our rights

Since the 1950s, every government attempt to introduce mandatory ID cards has been resolutely rejected by the British public.

We're now on the brink of a multi-billion-pound, national mandatory digital ID scheme that would make us all reliant on a digital pass to go about our daily lives.

We must reject this too - that is why we've convened a panel of experts today at our event during #Lab25

Follow for updates🧵

🪪"Digital ID was NOT in Labour's manifesto, and ministers promised there were no plans to introduce a digital ID. The landscape has now shifted dramatically.

There is no guarantee that the government would not make digital ID a requirement to access a range of public and private services...including the NHS and even online voting"

Our legal and policy officer, Jasleen Chaggar, opens the discussion.

🔔"Making this announcement outside of parliament without any consultation with MPs is WRONG.

We have to go back and debate about this"

@DawnButlerBrent reminds us that no one voted for a digital ID scheme and the government has no clear mandate to implement one.

Read 6 tweets

Big Brother Watch

@BigBrotherWatch

Sep 11

🚨BREAKING🚨

We've just published...'Checkpoint Britain: the dangers of digital ID and why privacy must be protected'

No one voted for digital ID, and the Government has no clear mandate to implement one.

Yet we're now on the brink of having every adult in the UK forced onto one, inserting the state into our everyday lives.

Today we can reveal the major risks of barcoding Britain.

Download & read our report⬇️
bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/campaigns/no2d…

Independent @YouGov polling commissioned by us reveals...

🔸63% of the British public DO NOT trust the government to keep their digital ID data safe

🔸Cyber attacks and privacy erosion are the top concerns associated with mandatory digital ID

Our research also reveals...

🔸There is little evidence to prove that a digital ID system would deter illegal immigration or employment fraud

🔸The government is already considering proposals that would require digital ID for employment and rent checks

🔸It could be used to track everyday interactions like voting online, paying bills, and shopping.

@YouGov 🆔"Digital ID would turn Britain into a checkpoint society and insert the state into our everyday interactions...

With far wider implications than the initial stated purposes of such a scheme"

Our interim director @rebecca_vincent writes in The Times⤵️
thetimes.com/uk/law/article…

Read 4 tweets

Big Brother Watch

@BigBrotherWatch

Aug 20

🚨BREAKING: The Met Police's use of live facial recognition is UNLAWFUL - the UK's human rights regulator believes

Today we can reveal to you that the EHRC will intervene in a landmark legal challenge to #StopFacialRecognition brought by our director @silkiecarlo & Shaun Thompson, a Londoner who was falsely flagged as a criminal by this tech.

"The Equality and Human Rights Commission’s intervention in this landmark legal challenge is hugely welcome, necessary, and incredibly timely.

The rapid proliferation of invasive live facial recognition technology without any legislation governing its use is one of the most pressing human rights concerns in the UK today...

Given this crucial ongoing legal action, the Home Office and police’s investment in this dangerous and discriminatory technology is wholly inappropriate and must stop.”

– Rebecca Vincent, Interim Director [@rebecca_vincent]

No other democracy in the world spies on its population with live facial recognition in such a cavalier and chilling way.

Help us urgently #StopFacialRecognition - our fundamental rights are at stake.

Your support makes the difference. Donate today⤵️
crowdfunder.co.uk/p/stop-facial-…

Read our full statement⤵️
bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases…

Read 4 tweets

Big Brother Watch

@BigBrotherWatch

Aug 7

🚨YOUR passport photo has secretly been turned into a facial recognition police mugshot - putting everyone's privacy at risk.

📢 We can announce today that we're set to pursue legal action against the Home Office & Met Police alongside @privacyint.

READ | telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/…

💥NEW: We’ve obtained fresh documents that reveal the number of facial recognition searches of the passport database SURGED from just 2 in 2020 to 417 in 2023.

This means that the Government is allowing police to search over 58 million photographs.

Nobody signed up for this.

"This astonishing revelation shows both our privacy and democracy are at risk from secretive AI policing, and that members of the public are now subject to the inevitable risk of misidentifications and injustice.

Police officers can secretly take photos from protests, social media, or indeed anywhere and seek to identify members of the public without suspecting us of having committed any crime.

This is an historic breach of the right to privacy in Britain that must end. We’ve taken this legal action to defend the rights of tens of millions of innocent people in Britain" - @silkiecarlo

Read our full statement⤵️
bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases…

Read 4 tweets

Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

Big Brother Watch

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

More from @BigBrotherWatch

Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch

Big Brother Watch

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Send Email!