A group of Senators is pushing to repeal Australia’s new Digital ID laws over concerns that the voluntary identity framework will become mandatory, which would pose a threat to human rights.
A bill tabled in Parliament today by vocal Digital ID critic Senator Alex Antic (Liberal) proposes to repeal two Digital ID Acts which were legislated last month, and to reverse amendments to several other related Acts which were pushed through at the same time.
The Digital ID Repeal Bill 2024 is sponsored by five other Senators including the Liberal Party’s Matt Canavan and Gerard Rennick, One Nation’s Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts, and United Australia Party’s Ralph Babet.
In May of this year, the Digital ID Bill 2024 passed in the House of Representatives and was signed into law, green-lighting the expansion of the Australian Government’s Digital ID system. Controversially, the Senate did not get to debate the bill before it was passed.
The government assures that the expanded Digital ID framework will be voluntary, however in a statement today, Senator Antic expressed strong doubts.
“Its practical operation and the exceptions provided to Digital ID being voluntary will result in a Digital ID system that is, for all intents and purposes, mandatory if Australians wish to participate in society,” said Senator Antic.
“It has the capacity to create a society where Australians are controlled through their digital identity and must be repealed.”
An explanatory memorandum states that the bill “advances the protection of human rights by ensuring that Australians are not forced to participate in centralised control of their identification information in order to participate in basic domestic and professional settings.”
Senator Babet echoed the human rights concerns in a statement today.
„This bill could be a precursor to a social credit type system. A future government may decide that you or your beliefs are unacceptable, the Digital ID gives them the tool necessary to make you persona non-grata,“ he said.
Australian Government figures show that the federal Digital ID system, myGovID, is already used by 10.5 million Australians to access more than 130 government services. Australians can sign up for Digital ID with documents such as a visa, driver licence or Medicare card. Biometric data from a selfie photo can be uploaded to create a stronger Digital ID, after which the government states that the photo will be deleted.
The recently passed Digital ID legislation is intended to expand and strengthen this existing framework. This will include centralising access to federal, state and territory government services, streamlining and strengthening identity verification for citizens, and improving accreditation schemes for service providers.
The government has identified the use of biometrics as a core principle in its plan to strengthen identity establishment and verification, and aims to have digital credentials such as Working with Children Checks and driver licences issued to digital wallets within three to five years.
Digital ID is used in numerous countries, including Estonia, Singapore, India, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Nigeria. The vaunted benefits of Digital ID systems include streamlined access to services, tighter digital security, and reduced paper storage requirements.
However, challenges to Digital ID systems include identity theft, data breaches, privacy concerns, variations in digital literacy, and the need for public trust.
While governments wishing to bring or expand Digital ID systems want to focus on the benefits and media sometimes characterise concerns as ‘conspiracy theories,’ there are accumulating case studies of such systems being exploited by governments and tech-savvy opportunists. To Haitian-descended citizens in the Dominican Republic rendered stateless, or Indians unable to access rations and benefits, there is nothing theoretical about their unfortunate reality.
With the recent history of repeated cyber security failures, inappropriate use of private data, and the weaponisation of emergency laws to unapologetically violate a swathe of human rights during Covid, one might reasonably ask if it is rational to trust Australian federal, state and territory governments with our most sensitive data.
Moreover, while the government still maintains its double-think position that Australia’s mandatory vaccine programs are voluntary, one might reasonably be skeptical of its assurance that Digital ID will remain voluntary.
Indeed, just as provisions exist in the law to make voluntary medical procedures mandatory, so provisions exist in the new Digital ID legislation for exemptions to the voluntary scheme – exemptions so wide that “a truck can and will be driven through,” said Libertarian Senate candidate for Victoria, Jordan Dittloff, in a social media post detailing his concerns.
A viral social media post detailing how Iceland’s ‚voluntary’ Digital ID system is necessary for participation in every aspect of daily life gained over 1.3 million views after the Australian man Leon Hill, who lives in Iceland, warned that Australia’s Digital ID system will likely go the same way:
“You cannot NOT have a digital ID to live in Iceland. It’s impossible. You can’t get power turned on, get a phone number, buy or register a car, rent or buy a house, or even buy certain items without having a kennitala or digital ID. You need one.
“The Icelandic government and tax office has access to my bank accounts and knows every transaction I make, what I spend, and what I earn. They don’t need a warrant, or anything else to access it—it’s theirs. They just need probable cause to look at it. Australians, this is what’s coming for you.
“And most importantly, they’ll coerce Australians into adopting it by creating laws that link it to the most important thing you need to survive in today’s modern world: your bank account.”
Australian banks are already integrating their services with the government’s Digital ID framework via the Digital ID exchange ConnectID. Major banks NAB, ANZ and CBA have already implemented ConnectID (use remains voluntary at present).
In his post, Hill suggested that people who don’t want to get trapped in the system should get a second passport or an eResidency in another country to enable banking and movement across borders if necessary.
However, Senator Antic and the Senators who sponsored the Digital ID Repeal Bill 2024 would rather it doesn’t come to this. At least 125,000 Australians who have signed Senator Antic’s petition to “scrap the ‘Digital Identity’ power grab” appear to feel similarly.
Senator Antic said he looks forward to debating the bill in the Senate at a future date.
Source: https://news.rebekahbarnett.com.au/p/just-in-senators-move-to-repeal-australias
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