Following his recent visit to Mumbai, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer praised India’s Aadhaar digital ID system as a “massive success”. It indicated that the UK intends to draw lessons from it for its own digital identity initiative, the Brit Card. Unlike Aadhaar, which relies on biometric data and provides access to a wide range of welfare and public services, the Brit Card will not collect biometric information and will initially focus on preventing illegal employment. The proposal has already sparked debate in the UK due to privacy concerns and fears of government overreach.
During his two-day trip, Starmer met with prominent figures, including Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and one of the architects of Aadhaar, to discuss how India achieved rapid implementation and broad adoption of the digital ID programme. Aadhaar, launched more than 15 years ago, now covers nearly 1.4 billion citizens and assigns each resident a unique 12-digit biometric ID number. The system is credited with streamlining access to banking, welfare, and other services, while reportedly saving the Indian economy billions in administrative costs and reducing corruption. Critics, however, have pointed to data protection concerns and cases of individuals being denied benefits due to a lack of ID.
A UK government spokesperson emphasised that, while the Brit Card seeks to learn from India’s experience, it will be designed differently and will not include biometric data. The programme’s initial rollout will make the ID mandatory only for employment purposes, particularly targeting illegal migrant workers—a focus intended to enforce immigration agreements with countries like France. Inclusivity and data protection have been cited as core priorities for the scheme.
Starmer defended the initiative by highlighting the daily inconveniences citizens face without streamlined identification. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, he remarked on the frustration of having to gather multiple documents to enrol children in school or access services, suggesting that a digital ID could simplify such processes. Despite these arguments, public support in the UK has reportedly declined since the announcement, with critics raising concerns over privacy, data breaches, and potential government overreach.
Linking the Brit Card to immigration enforcement has further fueled controversy. Starmer stressed the need to tackle illegal working, while opposition parties and some Labour MPs have questioned the programme’s costs and security implications. At this stage, no private technology providers have been engaged for the Brit Card, and the initiative faces continued scrutiny amid ongoing debates over civil liberties, privacy protections, and government accountability in the UK.
