Reader comments: Digital ID cards and the Online Safety Act

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Hi Diogenes,

Welcome to openDemocracy's weekly reader comments round-up. We receive so many carefully considered messages about our work that it seems a shame to keep them to ourselves. Send us your thoughts for next week's round-up by replying directly to any of our emails or commenting on our articles or Instagram posts.

These comments are edited for clarity, accuracy and length, and aren't necessarily a reflection of openDemocracy's editorial position.

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Re: Israel's biggest security threat has never been Hamas. It's Netanyahu

I cannot see how a two-state solution to this appalling conflict could work for several reasons, both politically and geographically, not least the Israeli government's determination to wipe out not only Hamas, but all Palestinians, and Palestinians' determination to reclaim their country, "from the river to the sea".

There could possibly be a lengthy and complicated solution towards a single political state combining Gaza and the West Bank within one geographical area and some kind of joint governance between Palestine and Israel, along the lines of South Africa's present (if not totally effective) arrangement. I feel this idea might possibly work once the present totally opposing protagonists are removed, as well as Western interests undermining any possible solution while benefiting financially from the ongoing conflict. I am still in a state of complete despair. –kindellkaren via our website

Thank you for the article, Paul Rogers. It's clear that the Zionist entity, through its aggressive policies under Binyamin Netanyahu, poses a real threat to the region's security and even to itself, as it has created a cycle of hatred and violence that will end only when it acknowledges its crimes against Palestinians and ends the occupation. –abdessamed_gtumsila via our website

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Re: Digital ID cards will put the UK on a dangerous path – just ask India

This is yet another affront on people's democratic rights and democracy itself in the UK, led by this so-called socialist government funded by billionaires. What an absolute mess we are in. –David via email

Brits constantly give away information to American tech oligarchs and yet are worried about having an ID, something every European country has had for decades without an issue. We in the UK also already have biometric digital data shared through biometric passports, but are worried about an ID. –ncalvinho via Instagram

Utter rubbish. Where I live, ID cards are mandatory. They make life much easier and safer by proving you operate within the law. Have you ever tried to apply for credit or opened a bank account or a credit account with an Internet company? If you ever have, you would know the hassle you have to go through to prove your identity without an ID card, and that credit agencies all your information to hand anyway. Stop spreading fake news, will you, and join the 21st century. –Peter via email

It's a waste of taxpayers' money, which could be put to better use during a cost of living crisis. Which of their mates' pockets are they filtering taxpayers' money into this time with this idea? And, data is money – why should the government profit from something that is not theirs? –coblover999 via Instagram

I am a pensioner, my understanding is that the proposed ID card scheme is about identifying people of working age. I am 77, there is no way I am going to start working again, so I have no intention of having an ID card. I already have a passport, driving licence, national insurance number, birth certificate, and a bus pass – why do I need anything else to prove who I am? –Karen via email

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Re: Online Safety Act: 'Protect the kids' is pretext for rights erosions

Glad to see the author mention the Communications Decency Act, always thought the Online Safety Act was a throwback to that era. –YCM via our website

The 'protect the children' argument goes back a long way. Professor Ronald Hutton, in his 2018 book The Witch, refers to similar arguments made by clerics and friars several times in his account of witch hunts in 15th-century Europe. Some of the accounts Hutton quotes have chilling resonances with the claims being made today. –Bellerophon via our website