So, there's something big happening to the world right now that almost no one is talking about. And I think in the long term, this is going to change the way we all live our lives. And I'm talking about digital ID. This government will make a new free of charge digital ID mandatory for the right to work by the end of this parliament. Let me spell that out. You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital ID. Now, it might sound like it has nothing to do with economics or finance and maybe it sounds boring, but the truth is this is one of the most important changes that governments are pushing right now and it's happening almost everywhere at the exact same time. In the US, at least 25 states have already launched digital driver's license programs. That means you can now pull out your phone instead of your wallet when you check into a flight, for example. And in Europe, they passed a law last year that makes it a requirement for all member countries to roll out a national digital ID wallet by 2026. In China, they just launched their version this summer, which links it to their social credit system. Countries like South Korea, Singapore, Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates are already doing this with their digital IDs. Now, you might have heard of digital IDs before, but I don't think most people really understand what it is because it's not being debated or talked about in Congress. It's not really trending on CNBC, and most people probably don't even realize that this is actually happening. But what's interesting though is that the United Nations has made it one of their goals, quote, legal identity for all by 2030. And the people funding it, of course, the World Economic Forum and the World Bank. And now Europe and the US are writing all of this into law. In just the last decade, the number of national digital ID programs have doubled. Today, over a hundred countries either have one or are building one right now. And when I first thought about it, at least on paper, it sounds kind of nice. It promises to cut down on fraud and make travel easier. And it onboards about a billion people who don't have any legal ID. But once you look into how much power this will give the governments of the world, you're going to be shocked. Once your entire identity is digital, whoever controls that ID can control a lot of power. And I don't think RFK Jr. is exaggerating when he said that this is turnkey totalitarianism. It lays the groundwork for global medical surveillance of every human being. So in today's video, I want to help explain exactly what this is, how it's going to work, how it's going to tie into our financial lives, and what you should be prepared for. So with that said, let's get into it. Hi, my name is Andre Jick. Hope you're doing well. Comfort the finance and stay for digital IDs. So before I get into the details of how governments are planning to roll this out, let me first explain what a digital ID actually is because I think when most people hear that, they just imagine it's it's a picture of your driver's license saved to your phone. And it kind of is that, but it's also a lot more than that. So a digital ID is a secure electronic form of ID that verifies who you are. Usually it's built on top of an app on your phone and inside that app is all your personal information which is then verified by a trusted authority like a company or a government. But there is a big difference between the physical version and the digital one because digital IDs use something called biometric data which are things like your facial recognition or fingerprints. with cryptographic encryption. So, they're a lot harder to fake. And once you've been verified, that ID becomes reusable. That means you don't have to keep handing over your passport or your license to different companies or even go to the DMV. You can just share that specific piece of information that they need. So, for example, if a bar needs to know that you're over 21, the app could just say, "Yes, this person is old enough without necessarily revealing your exact details, your birthday or your full ID number." So, on paper, it sounds like a convenient thing to have. It's more secure. There's less information floating around, so less chance for fraud. But as you're about to find out, you're going to realize that when you centralize that much power, the question becomes, what can they do with it? Because while governments and tech companies present this as a convenient and secure thing to have, the actual way it's already being used in some countries is a very different story. We're constantly recording, watching, and recording everything that's going on. citizens will be on their best behavior because we're constantly recording and reporting everything that's going on. Take China for example. Just this summer, they launched their national digital ID app, but instead of it just being an upgrade from physical to digital, they tied it to their social credit system. That means their digital ID is not just proof of who they are, but it's also connected to things like their financial history, travel rights, and even their online activity. So, what that means is if the government doesn't like what they're doing or doesn't like what they're saying online, or maybe what they're buying, they could restrict your ability to travel, to buy those things, or to access certain social services. After being sued for defamation by the subject of a story he'd written, he was blacklisted. He only realized when he tried to buy a train ticket and was told he was banned from traveling. If you didn't get a vaccine that the government mandated, sorry, you can't use public transportation. They would immediately detect that and send you a notification and they would deduct money from your what they call WeChat account. They they use two main apps, WeChat and Alip Pay. So, you can actually deduct your money directly from your account. There were reports of elderly people and workers who were denied food and pensions because their fingerprint scanners stopped working. So, if the system doesn't recognize you, you don't get food. That's kind of crazy. And I have to pass facial recognition, identity verification, which is insane because all I want to do is just spend my gift card balance on this debit card. These are realworld examples of how powerful and dangerous this can be when your whole identity is digital. And this is just scratching the surface. Before I tell you how these systems can really be abused, what I found really interesting is just how fast they're putting these systems into place. Like I don't remember anyone having this debate or even talking about it. And when they do, coverage is sometimes different depending on where you look. And that's why I use the sponsor of today's video, Ground News. It's a platform I actually used while researching this story and ground news pulled together 316 different articles on this headline. Starmer backs UKwide digital ID to verify right to work and rent. And what's interesting is that both the left and the right agreed. The only real difference was how they framed it. Left-leaning outlets said digital IDs threaten privacy and personal freedoms and they will fail in stopping illegal immigration. Right-leaning outlets also argued digital IDs infringe on citizens privacy. and center outlets reported it as a modernization effort that could streamline access to services with less emotion. But what I love most is that ground news makes this super easy to see. You get a bias distribution chart that looks like this one here, plus blind spot warnings that show you the stories your side might not even be seeing. And in this case, what stands out to me is that even when both sides agree something is a big deal, it's still not getting a lot of attention. So that's the value in seeing the full picture. And if you want to step outside the echo chamber and really understand what's going on, go to ground.news/jick or click the link down below. You'll get 40% off the same Vantage plan I use and you'll be supporting independent journalism and helping my channel out. But the point is the system's already here and it's being rolled out country by country. So in the European Union, for example, they already passed something called EIDS 2.0, know, which is a law that basically makes it a requirement for all countries in the European Union to offer a national digital ID wallet by 2026. So, in just about a year or two, every single person in Europe will have access to one governmentbacked app that can log you into your bank and pay your taxes. And it's being sold as kind of a universal login for life in Europe. In the UK, for example, their prime minister Kier Dharmmer, he wants to make these digital IDs a mandatory requirement for everyone. We need to be really clear. You must have uh ID, mandatory digital ID in order to work because we have to stop illegal working. Now, here in the United States, we don't have one national system yet, but we're getting a lot closer. At least 25 states already have mobile driver's licenses and 20 others are working on them and even tech companies like Uber and Amazon are starting to accept them. Because you're anonymous online, it can be worse. I do think over time, you know, with things like deep fakes, most of the time you're online, you're going to want to be in an environment where that people are truly identified. That is, they're connected to a real world identity that you trust instead of just people saying whatever they want. And I think that really shows you how fast this could change from being this optional thing to everyone needing this because it's a law. Now, under the previous administration under President Biden, they already issued an executive order for federal adoption. Now, there's also other countries that are somewhere in between like Singapore, for example, has something called Sing Pass, which is already being used by more than 4 and a.5 million people. South Korea also launched a new app this year and it's completely replaced their physical cards for banking. Nigeria is rolling out their own. And we also have the UAE with something called the UAE Pass and that's connected to over 5,000 services. Everything from signing legal documents to paying utilities. So you have to ask yourself, why is all of this happening now? Like why are governments pushing to do this right now? And here's what they say they want out of it. If you ask the governments or the United Nations or even the UK why they're doing this, you're obviously not going to hear them say control, surveillance, right? But what they will tell you is that digital IDs are all about convenience, security, and inclusion. It's about fighting illegal immigration, right? So, let me for a moment take the opposing view and the government's point of view and try to sell you on why this is a good thing. even though ultimately we're going to see how it's actually being used which is not good. So the first benefit is obviously fraud prevention because identity theft costs billions every year and paper documents are really easy to fake. A digital ID uses things like encryption and biometrics which in theory makes it a lot harder to steal and create fakes of. There's also an element of inclusion because right now there's almost a billion people in the world that don't have any legal ID at all. And without an ID, they can't open a bank account. They can't vote. They can't access certain government benefits. And it's also efficient. Governments say that this is going to save them time and money by cutting out paperwork. That means no more waiting in line at the DMV, no more mailing forms, just log in with your ID and you're done. Estonia, for example, handles 99% of public services completely digitally. And they say it saves them around 2% of GDP every year. And then there's something called interoperability. The European Union says that once their wallet is live, you'll be able to travel across all the countries, pay taxes, and even rent a bike with the same app. So that is the official explanation of why governments want it. a kind of universal passport for the digital world, right? The United Nations has called it the key to quote sustainable development because it's supposed to bring everyone into this system. So on the surface, I think it sounds completely innocent, but the reality is that it's anything but that. Because once you start to really think about it, the same features that makes it all convenient are also the same features that will be abused for power. And here's exactly why we should be extremely concerned. Once you centralize identity into one system, yes, you do make it easier for people to prove who they are, but you also make it easier for governments and corporations and special interests to track and control people. We've already seen governments weaponize financial access against their own citizens. And you're going to see this happen in three specific areas. Government power, corporate power, and surveillance. So the first example, government power. If you remember in 2022 during the freedom convoy protests in Canada, the government used emergency powers and ordered banks to freeze accounts linked to protesters. They targeted regular people who donated money through GoFundMe. And overnight, citizens were locked out of their own savings. There was no trials. There were no court rulings. No one was convicted of any wrongdoing. It was just because they supported the wrong cause. There was also Georgia earlier this year where Amnesty International reported that the government froze the bank accounts of NOS's and lawyers who were providing legal aid to protesters and their crime was offering support to people exercising their right to protest. So with the click of a button, the government just silenced people by cutting off access to their money. And under existing anti-money laundering laws, this is super easy to justify because banks are required to freeze or flag accounts that they suspect have unusual activity. But what counts as unusual activity? And who gets to decide that? That could mean transferring money to buy Bitcoin. It could mean donating to a protest movement. It could even mean participating in the boycott of a company that the government wants to protect. None of this has to be proven illegal in court. As long as they have suspicion, that is enough. And that's a very scary thing. Now, the second place you're going to see this power is corporate power. Again, Amazon and Uber and other companies are already experimenting with digital IDs. But once it becomes the standard, it will stop being just identification. It will become what some people call a super cookie, right? Like think about how a website uses cookies to track your browsing and sell you ads, right? But now apply that across your entire identity. That opens the door to something called dynamic pricing. And that's a shareholders dream, by the way. Here's how it's going to work. Think about how airports charge us like $20 for a sandwich or a bottle of water. Why? Because they know you're trapped. You're not going to leave the airport, get an Uber, and eat somewhere else, then come back through security. You are stuck. That is a very simple form of dynamic pricing. But imagine if that logic gets supercharged by digital IDs. Let's say your ID app shows that you just got off a 10-hour flight, right? The system knows where you've been. It knows your wallet balance. It knows you're hungry. So, the algorithm decides, you know, that person is stressed and they will probably pay more. And then boom, your sandwich is $25 instead of $12, but the person next to you might pay less just because that system thinks they're more price sensitive. They can tolerate $15, but not a dollar more. Ticket Master, for example, already uses dynamic pricing where the same ticket can jump in price minuteby minute based purely on demand. Now, imagine though if your digital ID shows you've searched for, I don't know, Taylor Swift tickets five times this week. The algorithm knows you are more likely to pay more, so your price gets pushed higher than someone else's. Airlines already do this. Or think about car insurance. Right now, companies use broad categories, right? But with digital ID, they could see your exact driving history, your Uber ride logs, where you hang out, all based on its ability to digitally track exactly where you are and where you've been. And you don't get to negotiate any of this because the system already knows too much about you. That's the corporate power risk. And then, of course, there's one more. The third place this power will show up in is surveillance and security. Some digital driver's license apps in the US already have what's called a phone home feature. That means every time you use your ID at a bar, at an airport, or a hotel, it pings a government database. So now instead of just being a harmless ID, the government now has a timestamped log of everywhere you go and everything you do in real time. If you add in central bank digital currencies on top of all that, which are already being tested, as well as an API that companies can pay to access, and it's not really that hard to imagine a programmable like money that is tied to your biometrics, that gives the government the ability to program dollars that maybe stop working at certain stores for certain purchases or even dollars that expire after a certain date. It's all up to their discretion. But it gets worse when you consider data breaches. India's Adar system, for example, which is the biggest digital ID program in the world, has already had multiple leaks. Sensitive information from a billion people, including biometrics, was exposed. But here's the problem. Once your fingerprint or your facial scan or your iris is leaked or it's sold, you can't reset it like a password. It doesn't work that way. If the system is trying to protect us from fraud or illegal immigration, then the current system that we have today should be working. But it's not. So an extra layer of this identification is going to do very little to stop it. Why do you think that them having a digital ID, having to have a digital ID would stop that problem when right now people are meant to have a national insurance number and card and if they're not asked for that, a boss is willing already to break the rules. What's the difference going to be? It's exactly right. If they're not willing to ask for their current credentials, what makes them think a digital ID will do anything to change that? And he didn't really have a good answer for that because there is no good answer. So, if we allow this to happen, I think it's going to fundamentally change the balance of power between people, governments, and corporations. And not for the better, unfortunately. But yes, it will be more convenient for people as long as you don't get out of line or say something someone doesn't like. All that digital ID will be is a means of controlling the population, of telling us what we can and can't do, of finding the innocent. Uh, and didn't we see it all when we had the pandemic, when you had to have vaccine ID to travel, to do various things? Did that stop the COVID pandemic spread spreading? Did it hell? All it did was put cost and inconvenience on everybody else. I also worry about massive data banks being held by the government, being hacked by foreign governments, by private companies, by criminals. I do not see a single benefit to the government having digital ID other than them controlling what we do, what we spend, and where we go. That's a crazy world we live out there. And I swear the older I get, the more I'm starting to become like that one crazy paranoid uncle. And I know how all of this sounds. And I get how it sounds like fear-mongering, but as they say, only the paranoid survive. But I'd love to hear what you think about this new system. Is it good? Is it bad? Let me know down in the comments below what you think. As always, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. Smash the like button. Subscribe if you haven't already. I'd love to see you back here next week. I'll see you soon. Bye-bye.