Brexit and the waning days of the United Kingdom

[Sheilbh]

I think this is on the way everywhere - I remember talking about it with Jake. There are similar provisions in the Digital Services Act in Europe - different member states are taking different approaches and timelines (I think Italy and Spain are furthest along) but there's a monthly review at EU level.

I think it's going to happen everywhere - and I support Australia's social media ban for under 16s which will require age-gating and some form of digital ID.

[mongers]

Not a real moan, but will I ever get my head around UK rail ticket pricing?

Example, I can get a day return ticket* to Cardiff, down to about 25 quid if I split the ticket, and I guess that's not so bad considering how much an on the day return to London cost me. 

But alternatively I can buy a ticket that allows me 8 returns to Cardiff** or further during a 15 day period for just £68 with a rail card.


* Advanced tickets that save any noticeable amount of money are few and far between hereabouts.
** You can actually go a bit further on these tickets, out in to Deveon or up into the Midlands from here.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

I think this is on the way everywhere - I remember talking about it with Jake. There are similar provisions in the Digital Services Act in Europe - different member states are taking different approaches and timelines (I think Italy and Spain are furthest along) but there's a monthly review at EU level.

I think it's going to happen everywhere - and I support Australia's social media ban for under 16s which will require age-gating and some form of digital ID.

we're all going to be China sooner or later

[Valmy]

If I get a digital ID to see porn it might reflect badly on my social credit score. 

[Grey Fox]

There is no might. Comrade Xi frowns on that.

[Sheilbh]

I have lots of issues with the Online Safety Act (and Europe's Digital Services Act) but I'm not really that concerned about this side of things

We fine newsagents or sex shops who let kids access porn in the brick and mortar world. The way they get around that is by checking people's IDs. It's the same here - and the systems that are developing in Europe are basically intermediaries that hold your digital ID and the porn company will just get a yes/no answer, they won't see or have your underlying data.

Similarly if we follow Australia (and I hope we do) in banning social media for under 16s we need an age gate system.

I am increasingly convinced by Tamas' argument that we do need some form of ID system in the UK and it would make sense to me to have that as a primarily digital ID. I take the civil libertarian point that linking government databases and information about an individual around a single ID is a threat to individual liberties, I think it is. I suppose my view is that I think those agencies of the state (GCHQ, MI5 etc) could and already do it. It's the NHS requiring five separate log in accounts that would benefit from a digital ID system.

[garbon]

Yeah because the UK has done so well with a roll out of evisas.

But I guess as knowledge of 1984 recedes...

[Sheilbh]

Oh yeah - something we need and should do in principle v the reality of every government IT project ever is a concern

I mean I'm not exaggerating when I say I have about five different log-ins for different NHS apps or websites to deal with the SAME hospital. And all of them are a bit shonky...

[HVC]

I always found it odd that brits are so against id's when the government can basically track you so effectively with cctv. I mean that seems way more 1984 creepy

[garbon]

I always found it odd that brits are so against id's when the government can basically track you so effectively with cctv. I mean that seems way more 1984 creepy

They still manage to have people escape / go missing.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah. Also people I've known who've been victims of crimes have not found CCTV helpful - discovering that it wasn't actually recording, or the screen was dirty so it couldn't actually record anything.

Plus broadly the rule is you can't retain it for more than 30 days (unless there's a hold) so it's more of a flow of information than a record.

But I never really understood the anti-CCTV view. It's not actually being watched or stored (unlike, say, data associated with an ID).

I have more concerns around the use of facial recognition software but can fully see the case for it in some contexts - for example I think it's common at football stadiums to identify hooligans/people with a football ban.