Those of my generation may very well remember the hit song 'Three steps to Heaven' by Eddie Cochran, released in 1960. Now however I believe that we face three steps to Hell which, if they are taken by our society, will see the total destruction of the right to privacy, and make it impossible for anyone to live a quiet, anonymous life free of supervision by the state.
The pernicious proposal that we should be obliged to accept a system of digital ID, together with the ongoing pressure to abolish cash, would ensure that the state would be able to monitor every penny we spend, preventing a free choice as to how we wish to use our own money. Daring to defy the authorities on any matter could lead to a refusal to allow an individual to purchase even a loaf of bread, as their credit card, and bank details, could be known and controlled by the state. If one was known to be an opponent of the regime then the links between one's mandatory ID, and one's personal data would enable the state to block transactions, and could not be evaded by using cash.
It is instructive to look at the experience of the Indian people since their digit ID system was introduced. Despite supposedly being voluntary it has now reached the stage where, as some Indian academics say 'Today, it's virtually impossible to get anything done in India without a digital ID. While it is not mandatory, not having one, de facto, means the state does not recognise you exist'.
The Indian people now need such ID to buy a house, get a job, open a bank account, pay their tax, receive benefits, buy a car, get a SIM card, book priority train tickets, and admit children to school.
The private sector has jumped on the bandwagon, with those such as banks, pension providers, and insurance companies demanding the ID despite repeated court judgements that signing up must remain voluntary. There have been reports that digital ID has been required to post a parcel, and track an Amazon package.
According to democratic activists, for many people this ID has become a form of digital coercion, in which each and every time they need to avail a government service, enter a public space or just conduct their lives, there is a constant demand for ID authentication. One's very basis to live is checked at each and every step.
This foul scheme has become the basis of an ever-expanding bureaucratic minefield, in which a digital ID number can be demanded at any time for the most banal transactions.
Tony Blair, a man responsible for many of the anti-democratic trends we now see in the UK, has been behind much of the propaganda for digital ID. He states 'Imagine that all your health information was in one place: easy, with your permission, for anyone anywhere in the health service to see. That your passport, driving licence, anything you need to prove your identity, were in one simple digital wallet, unique to you. That you could purchase and pay for any goods or services using your digital ID.' He ignores those without credit cards, or a bank account, or who just want to keep their private lives private.
Combined with these restrictions on freedom is the ever expanding use of CCTV, and in particular facial identification which, quite apart from the fact that it will fail time and time again to recognise individuals correctly, will allow authorities to follow our every movement.
The result of allowing these three steps of effectively mandatory IDs, the end of cash, and universal CCTV, being implemented will be a state comparable to North Korea, or even Orwell's 1984. Only a mass rebellion against the impertinence of the establishment before it is too late will save us from such a fate.
