UK government’s new digital IDs scheme causes concern among trans community

The government’s plans to enforce compulsory digital IDs in the UK has caused concern over its potential impact on the trans community.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer announced plans to introduce mandatory digital IDs for UK adults on Thursday (25 September).

The scheme, which will require all working adults to obtain a digital “Brit card,” is reportedly part of No. 10’s plans to tackle illegal migration, according to The Guardian.

Starmer said the IDs would play an “important part” in what he described as “patriotic renewal” by making it more difficult for migrants to access work in the UK.

He will reportedly outline measures, which will likely include legislation, during a conference on Friday (26 September).

The move has already garnered considerable backlash from civil rights groups and cybersecurity experts, who have argued the scheme is not only an affront to people’s right to privacy, but could pose significant security risks.

It has also caused concern in the LGBTQ+ community, particularly among trans people who have questioned whether the IDs will contain information outing them.

Several users replying to a Reddit post on the subject expressed concerns over whether Brit Cards would accept Gender Recognition Certificates (GRCs) to correctly designate a trans person’s gender identity, or whether it requires them to state their birth sex.

Under the Gender Reocgnition Act in the UK, GRCs are used by trans people to legally change their gender marker on legal documents

“Let me guess, no statements on what this means for trans [people] with GRCs and if [assigned gender at birth] will be listed at all?” one user questioned.

Another wrote: “That might as well be a pink triangle. Government casually saying we’re not entitled to our right to privacy.”

Opponents to the scheme have also questioned how legally enforcable the IDs would be, especially for those who do not own smartphones.

One user noted that neither of the parents own smartphones, adding: “My mum just can’t do technology, and my dad has advanced Parkinson’s – there’s no way he’s using a touchscreen device.”

A petition urging the government to reconsider has reached nearly 800,000 signatures less than 24 hours after the announcement. The petition argues it would be a “step towards mass surveillance and digital control.”

The concept was first introduced and later abandoned in the late 2000s under Tony Blair following a similar backlash. An attempt to reintroduce them under David Cameron was similarly scrapped after the Conservative government described it as “intrusive, ineffective, and enormously expensive.”