Connect with us
[the_ad id="89560"]

Digital ID

Tony Blair pushes digital ID as ‘essential’ to modern infrastructure but needing public ‘persuasion’

Published

1 year ago

7 minute read

Former UK prime minister Sir Tony Blair

From LifeSiteNews

By Tim Hinchliffe

In his Cyber Polygon 2020 talk, Blair didn’t make the case for why having a digital identity was actually necessary to prevent a cyber pandemic, but rather that digital identities would be an inevitable part of the digital ecosystem and would be crucial for managing health records, transaction data, and immigration status.

Speaking Tuesday at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) “Future of Britain Conference 2024: Governing in the Age of AI,” Blair continued his years-long push for digital ID adoption.

READ: Major anti-globalist TV station debanked in Germany and Austria

“An analysis on digital ID, which is an essential part of a modern digital infrastructure, could yield benefits not only for ease of interaction with government but for the public finances,” said Blair.

“Though, we have a little work of persuasion to do here, it has to be said,” he added.

Speaking at a session on “Why Building a Digital Backbone Is Essential for Britain,” India’s former Minister of State for Electronics, Information Technology, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that digital ID was the “bedrock” of a “digital government architecture.”

When it came to the notion of individual civil liberties and digital identity, Chandrasekhar said that it was “an interesting debate to have” and that digital ID didn’t imply a violation of personal privacy:

People who say digital ID automatically implies a violation of personal information privacy have not read the last two chapters of the book they’ve been reading.

‘A citizen’s digital ID would contain a single unique identifier, which would help link the user with public services. Each service would retain its own unique identifier such as an NHS number or Unique Taxpayer Reference.’ — Tony Blair Institute, The Economic Case for a UK Digital ID, 2024

The report “The Economic Case for a UK Digital ID” claims that digital ID can be used for everything from integrating “personal health records and personal data” to streamlining taxation and welfare payments, as well as for managing refugees and asylum seekers.

The total cost of a digital ID rollout in the U.K., according the report, would cost at most £1.4 billion [$1.8 billion], and a digital ID scheme could be developed and deployed “over the course of a single parliamentary term (five years).”

Citizens would retain control over how linked they want their data from different databases to be via a user portal/app, while controlling how their digital identity attributes are used through a digital wallet (decentralized model).

Tony Blair has been pushing the digital ID agenda for many years for a variety of different reasons, from vaccine passports to tracking refugee statuses.

A TBI spokesperson told Politico EU that the organization was not advocating for mandatory digital ID cards, saying, “Everyone loves to talk about ID cards or government ID. That’s not actually our proposal,” adding that TBI’s vision is for people to be given “the ability to connect [their] data across the public sector.”

Speaking at the WEF-backed, Russian-based Cyber Polygon 2020 cybersecurity training exercise, former UK Prime Minister Blair stated with confidence that governments were “absolutely, inevitably” moving in the direction of digital identity adoption.

In his Cyber Polygon 2020 talk, Blair didn’t make the case for why having a digital identity was actually necessary to prevent a cyber pandemic, but rather that digital identities would be an inevitable part of the digital ecosystem and would be crucial for managing health records, transaction data, and immigration status.

Digital identity is one of three major components of what is known as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), which also includes massive data exchanges, and a fast digital payments system, which can include the use of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

India is considered to be one of the world leaders in DPI, which everyone in the space refers to as the “India stack.”

Last year, India’s Aadhaar digital ID architect Nandan Nilekani said that everybody should have a digital ID, a smartphone, and a bank account because these were the “tools of the new world” upon which everything else was built.

In November 2023, the U.N. and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation partnered to launch the 50-in-5 campaign to accelerate DPI rollouts in 50 countries within five years.

Earlier this year, the European Union parliament said that its digital identity wallet would be voluntary, which is what India said about its own digital ID scheme before government agencies began mandating it for certain services.

At the WEF annual meeting in Davos this year, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands said that a digital ID was good for knowing “who actually got a vaccination or not.”

Reprinted with permission from The Sociable

Before Post

Related Topics:

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

More from this author
Business / 5 hours ago

What Do Loyalty Rewards Programs Cost Us?

Haultain Research / 5 hours ago

Sweden Fixed What Canada Won’t Even Name

Censorship Industrial Complex / 1 day ago

US Under Secretary of State Slams UK and EU Over Online Speech Regulation, Announces Release of Files on Past Censorship Efforts

Digital ID

Canadian government launches trial version of digital ID for certain licenses, permits

Published on December 22, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

The Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) department has officially confirmed it is developing a digital ID for certain licenses and permits.

The Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) department has officially confirmed it is developing a digital ID for certain licenses and permits, called “GC Issue and Verify,” which has already been listed on the Google Play store, as a trial-only app for certain users.

The digital ID claims the government can replace and be full “digital versions” of the “physical credentials they already provide today, like work permits and boating licenses.”

“Instead of only having physical credentials in their wallets, people will also be able to securely store their digital credentials on their mobile devices,” says the government.

According to ESDC officials, the digital IDs can be shared online or in-person “when needed, making it easy for departments, organizations, and businesses to validate their information.”

The government argued that since many Canadians already use “digital credentials without realizing it,” such as a digital ticket “stored on our mobile device instead of using a printed ticket,” this would be the same for IDs such as licenses.

ESDC said that “digital options” will be voluntary and that people can still use “traditional physical methods of verification,” instead.

READ: Canada releases new digital ID app for personal documents despite privacy concerns

The reality is that digital IDs and similar systems have long been pushed by globalist groups like the World Economic Forum, an organization with which Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has extensive ties, under the guise of ease of access and security.

Also, Canadians do not want digital IDs, as noted by Canada’s Privy Council research from 2023, which said there is strong public resistance to the use of digital IDs to access government services.

Both GC Wallet and GC Issue and Verify are now being tested with federal partners, those being Transport Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

During COVID, the Canadian federal government released a digital-type app called ArriveCAN app for travel that was a form of digital ID. The app was riddled with technical glitches along with privacy concerns from users.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, the Canadian government hired outside consultants tasked with looking into whether or not officials should proceed with creating a digital ID system for all citizens and residents.

Opp0sition MP Leslyn Lewis, recently warned Canadians to be “on guard” against a push by the ruling Liberal Party to bring forth digital IDs, saying they should be voluntary.

Continue Reading

Digital ID

Canada releases new digital ID app for personal documents despite privacy concerns

Published on December 15, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

The new GC Wallet is supposed to be a ‘foundational component’ of a controversial yet-to-come digital ID system.

Despite clear signs that most Canadians do not want a national digital ID, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney has quietly released a new type of digital ID app on Google’s Play Store called GC Wallet.

The new app appeared on Google sometime late last week and was developed by Canada’s Employment and Social Development department. This is the same department, as reported by LifeSiteNews, that recently said it would move ahead with digital identification for anyone seeking federal benefits, including seniors on Old Age Security.

The new GC Wallet, say officials, is a “secure and convenient way to store and access your official digital credentials,” allowing users to keep important documents on it, such as temporary visas along with pilot licenses, and has an offline QR code function built in.

According to the government, the new GC Wallet is supposed to be a “foundational component” of a yet-to-come digital ID system that most likely will be expanded to a variety of documents.

The app was blasted on X by Kyle Kemper, the half-brother of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In an X post late last week, Kemper claimed the new app can “use your device’s camera to scan QR codes and import credentials issued by authorized institutions. Present your digital documents using dynamic QR codes or secure on-screen displays, making it easy to verify your identity and other information at airport boarding gates and other checkpoints.”

“The government of Canada has silently deployed a digital wallet on the Google Play Store for Digital ID. They have also cancelled an industry RFP process. I am digging into this and will offer detailed comments soon,” he wrote.

The GC Wallet is under development and, according to the feds, is “part of a limited Government of Canada pilot and is intended solely for use by approved participants.

The app is not available for broad public use at this time.

Last week, as reported by LifeSiteNews, without oversight from elected federal MPs, Canada’s Department of Immigration had research done to investigate a national ID system using digital passports for domestic use and how such a system would be enforced.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, the Canadian government hired outside consultants tasked with looking into whether or not officials should proceed with creating a digital ID system for all citizens and residents.

As per a May 20 Digital Credentials Issue memo, as noted by Blacklock’s Reporter, the “adoption” of such a digital ID system may be difficult.”

Digital IDs and similar systems have long been pushed by globalist groups like the World Economic Forum, an organization with which Carney has extensive ties, under the guise of ease of access and security.

One of Canada’s most staunchly pro-life MPs, Leslyn Lewis, recently warned Canadians to be “on guard” against a push by the ruling Liberal Party to bring forth Digital IDs, saying they should be voluntary.

Continue Reading

Trending

X