A fine margin in Switzerland

The freedom-loving, anti-interference Swiss recently held a referendum on digital ID 'cards'. This followed a law passed in December enabling such an e-ID scheme providing a digital alternative to paper passports and driving licences. There had been an earlier referendum in 2021 where the plan was defeated soundly with 64% voting against, apparently largely because it was to be run by a private company. This time around the proposal was for it to be state-run and was approved by the huge majority of 50.4 to 49.6 percent.

There's a lot for our UK government to learn from this as it seems to be moving towards some kind of our own e-ID facility. I've written about this before and referred to the Estonia exemplar, which seems to be the gold standard that everyone aspires to.

I'm instinctively in favour of something along the Estonian line but the government, whilst not proposing a referendum (heaven forbid the unwashed masses should decide this), needs to be able to take public opinion with it.

From a Times leader on Saturday:

This popular understanding of liberty, including the right not to be aggravated by the peremptory demands of petty officialdom, has long set Britain apart from what many saw as an overbearing “papers please!” culture elsewhere in Europe. It dogged, and eventually defeated, Tony Blair’s efforts to bring back ID cards — Gordon Brown shelved the scheme when he took office in 2007, on grounds of cost, feasibility and civil liberty concerns. And when the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition came to power, the scheme was scrapped....Mr Starmer's proposed "Brit card" will include details such as name, date of birth, residency status and a photograph...although it will not be a panacea for illegal immigration, it might well prove one useful element of a solution.

The national security/immigration/right to work card must be a tempting one to play but I believe this would be a mistake. Far better to explain the (Estonia-like) benefits of easy access to government services and to remind us of how much personal data we already give freely to big tech companies anyway.

It would be nice to think this kind of proposal could be something that could be agreed to along non-partisan lines but I fear the rabid right and zealous left (i.e all the opposition parties) will be too tribal for that to happen.