Digital ID harms
Click here to return home Updated 24 November, 2025 Below are examples of how digital ID goals and decisions by parliament could negatively interrupt the lives and well-being of New Zealanders. Digital ID example and proposed use cases Immigration & Employment A tool for distinguishing between citizens & residents This will have verified your passport, birth certificate, residency status, and any other identifier documents that help connect your likeness to your Digital ID. At surface level this is convenient because it removes data redundancy and in many cases removes having to repeat mundane processes (repeat authorisation applications, submission and wait times) This information will determine whether you have a right to acquire property, work inside the country, and connect to Welfare and other public services. Social credit system? With the ability to connect markers like residency status and qualifications, also comes the ability to create new markers such as ‘social score’ and ‘reliability meter’ – things that are subjective and potentially detrimental to certain personality types. The question isn’t whether a governing body can remain objective and fair about adjudicating these things, but whether they are capable of resisting applying them. Learn More Banking and Finance Convenient for KYC, but the good stops about there… Digital lD becomes the default for KYC (know your customer) check when signing up to banks or any platforms where currency is being acquired, kept, and exchanged. This allows for seamless login experiences through multiple platforms, limiting the amount of passwords, checks and processes required to access user funds. However… Once a digital currency is linked to the the pre-requisite digital ID; Exact transaction logs can be kept and identified for monitoring and review Taxation can be deducted automatically without your authorisation or balancing with all expenses. Fines can be deducted without your notification Time limits can be imposed on the lifespan of digital ID linked currency Location limits can be set on where digital ID linked currency can be spent Social Credit criteria can be set up to reward or punish behaviour deemed good or bad. Your ability to send and receive money, within a government surveilled digital ID currency system, will be dependent on the political ideologies and whims of those within government and finance sectors. Learn More Education and Qualifications Every award and qualification, in one place Every pupil carries a unique pupil number which provides academic records, report data, attendance logs, and any other information deemed of interest to each pupil. On the surface, this is a measure of convenience and a benchmark for where any particular student stands within the system of their education place of enrolment. The downside is… This unique pupil number can be tied to GPS location data, real-time tracking and facial recognition technology, posing privacy concerns as well as an added layer of stress and tension for each student, not wanting to take a ‘wrong step’ and therefore living with heightened stress. The purpose would be to ensure that students are at their allocated locations in real-time when at school, but that does not address other issues like whether their class of learning is appropriate for them. Learn More Proposal to Ban Social Media for Under 16’s On the surface great, but… National Tukituki MP Catherine Wedd has put forward a new members’ bill to protect young people from social media harm by restricting access for under 16s. This particular measure – age restricted access, is one of the key bridges between a simple government ID and an all-pervasive, full surveillance tool of every individual. The proposed bill specifically being aimed at social media platforms, would enforce the following standards onto social media providers: Provider obligations: Social media platforms must take all reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from creating accounts. Enforcement: The Bill introduces penalties for non-compliance, with courts empowered to issue financial penalties against platforms that fail to uphold age restrictions. Defences for providers: Platforms can rely on reasonable verification measures to demonstrate compliance. Regulatory oversight: The Minister will have the authority to designate specific platforms as age-restricted and enforce compliance. Review mechanism: The law will be reviewed three years after implementation to assess its effectiveness and consider necessary amendments. WHAT THIS MEANS It means that not just under 16’s, but ALL adults, will be forced to go through a verification check when signing in to Social Media platforms. This means identity data connected to social media use, which would also mean that every interaction made on platforms like YouTube or Facebook, is now directly traceable by government and your ongoing participation in those social media platforms also becomes controllable by Government. WHAT’S AT STAKE? Loss of online sovereignty – if Government doesn’t like or agree with the content you are posting or consuming, they can take your access rights away without notice. Loss of Refuge – Your ability to simply wind down and relax using social media platforms is compromised by knowing that even your leisure time is being ‘watched’. Personal Choice – Your ability to make genuine individual choices online are compromised by ‘big brother’ government watching over your every move. You are more likely to self-censor and sabotage your own online behaviour by engaging in ways you would think the government would approve. Cheaters will still cheat – Governments know that anyone with the desire will always find a way to bypass the system, and this includes malicious actors who prey on others. This leaves regular, innocent people as the victims of government overreach. ‘Online Safety’ is the sugar coating, control is the pill beneath. Learn More Proposal to remove food labelling (Digital ID tie-in with Gene Technology Bill) Digital Labelling proposal Sold as a means to “boost supermarket competition” the government are proposing to replace physical food labels with digital alternatives “Information could be made accessible in-store and online via on-shelf QR codes, in-store digital labels, websites and mobile apps” The implications this has for the customer are numerous: The customer could be required to carry a digital device into the