The essay below is attributed to Elon Musk: http://ianbrighthope.substack.com/p/elon-the-digital-id-and-the-digital but there seems to be some doubt about this on fact checking sites, if they can be trusted, alleging that the piece is AI generated. Anyway, a good job is done. As Dr Brighthope, who posted it notes: "This excellent piece from Elon Musk warns that "digital ID" schemes—marketed as convenient and secure—consolidate personal identity, finances, health, travel, and online behaviour into a single, state-accessible profile. Through gradual steps (convenience → preference → standard → mandate), these systems become effectively compulsory, enabling pervasive surveillance and control—especially when tied to programmable central bank digital currencies. The result is a society where access to money, services, and daily life can be restricted for dissent, producing self-censorship and dependence. The piece urges resistance now—use cash, support privacy-respecting services, and raise public awareness—before the infrastructure becomes irreversible."
I could not agree more:
"Imagine waking up tomorrow and realising you need government permission just to buy groceries, fill your gas tank, or even access your own money. Sounds like science fiction, right? But it's the very real path that digital ID systems are pushing us toward. Once introduced, they don't just make life easier, they make life controlled. And history shows us something important. When it's free, you are the product. And once freedoms are handed over, they rarely come back.
Do you remember when you first got a social security number? It was supposed to be just for retirement benefits, nothing more. They even printed "not for identification purposes" right on the cards. But look what happened over the decades. Slowly, quietly, that number became the key to everything—your credit, your healthcare, your employment, your banking. What started as a simple retirement program became the foundation of a surveillance system most people don't even realise exists.
Now they want to do the same thing, but this time it's not just a number on a card you can leave at home. This time it's a digital system that knows where you are, what you're buying, who you're talking to, and what you're thinking based on what you search for online. They're calling it a digital ID, and they're wrapping it up in the same promises they always use: convenience, security, efficiency. But here's what a digital ID really means in plain English. It's like having a government agent following you around with a clipboard, writing down everything you do, everywhere you go, everyone you talk to, and every penny you spend. Except this agent never sleeps, never takes a break, and never forgets anything—ever.
The digital ID they're pushing is essentially a unified digital passport that ties together your identity with your finances, your healthcare records, your travel history, and your online activity. Every website you visit, every purchase you make, every doctor's appointment you attend, every medicine you take, it all gets connected to one central profile that the government can access whenever they want, for whatever reason they decide is important. They're marketing this as the ultimate convenience. "Think how easy it'll be," they say—no more fumbling with multiple cards or passwords, one simple digital identity for everything. But you know what? The most convenient thing for a prison guard is when all the inmates are locked in their cells. Convenient for whom exactly?
This isn't some far-off possibility we're talking about. Right now across the Atlantic, our allies in Britain are rolling out something called the Brit Card, and watching what's happening there is like getting a preview of coming attractions. The British government started with all the same friendly language we're hearing here. They said it would streamline services, enhance security, and prevent another scandal like what happened to the Caribbean immigrants who couldn't prove their right to be in the country after living there for decades. They even claimed it would stop people from crossing the English Channel in small boats—though anyone with half a brain can see that's complete nonsense. People working in the underground economy aren't exactly worried about carrying official government identification.
But here's where it gets disturbing, and why every American should be paying attention. The Brit Card isn't just about proving who you are online. It's about building a centralised, state-controlled digital identity system that connects your finances, your medical history, your travel movements, your social media activity, and even your real-world social interactions. It's like a digital dog collar, and once it's clipped around your neck, you can't take it off. Now, the British government is calling it optional—for now. Sound familiar? Remember when they said the same thing about vaccine passports? "Oh, it's just temporary," they said. "Just for public health," they promised. "Nobody's forcing you to get one," they insisted. But within weeks, you couldn't get into a restaurant or fly on an airplane without showing your papers. I'm pretty sure the Brit Card will be following exactly the same playbook.
Once these systems are in place, they become incredibly easy to expand—quietly, incrementally—until suddenly you need your digital ID to apply for a job, then to rent an apartment, then to take public transportation, then to open a bank account, and before you know it, what was once optional becomes absolutely essential for anything you want to do in modern society.
Here's the thing that should make every American's blood run cold: this same pattern is already starting here in the United States. We might not have a Brit Card, but we're building the infrastructure for the same system piece by piece, regulation by regulation, convenience by convenience. Think about how much has already changed just in the past few years. Your driver's license is becoming a Real ID whether you like it or not. Your banking is moving digital whether you want it to or not. More and more services require you to verify your identity online using systems that track and store everything you do. Each step seems reasonable by itself, but when you connect the dots, the picture that emerges should terrify anyone who values freedom.
The question isn't whether the government can legally create a mandatory digital ID system. They can't just wave a magic wand and make it happen overnight. Any mandatory system would require new legislation—just like when they tried this before with the Identity Cards Act back in the 2000s in Britain, which, by the way, got repealed because people fought back against it. But here's what's different now: they don't need to make it legally mandatory if they can make it practically impossible to live without. And that's exactly what's happening.
Look around you. How much of your life already depends on digital systems? Your banking, your healthcare, your shopping, your communication with family and friends. Each of these systems is already collecting data about you, already tracking your behavior, already building a profile of who you are and what you do. A unified digital ID doesn't create surveillance; it just makes the surveillance more efficient. And once that infrastructure is in place, flipping the switch from optional to required becomes as simple as changing a few lines of code. No dramatic legislation needed. No big announcements. Just quiet changes to terms of service and compliance requirements that make it impossible to function in modern society without your digital papers.
This is what I call the incremental trap. And it's how every surveillance state in history has been built: not through dramatic coups or sudden oppression, but through a thousand small compromises that each seem reasonable by themselves. First, they make it convenient: "Look how easy this is—no more waiting in lines or filling out paperwork." Then they make it preferred: "You can still do things the old way, but the new way is so much faster." Then they make it standard: "Most people are using the digital system now, so we're phasing out the old options." And finally, they make it mandatory: "For security reasons, we now require digital verification for all transactions."
Each step builds on the last, and each step normalises a little more control, a little more surveillance, a little more dependency on systems you don't control and can't opt out of. By the time people realise what's happened, resistance is painted as extremism, and going back to the old way becomes practically impossible. We've seen this exact pattern with so many things that are now part of daily life. Remember when you could fly without showing identification? Remember when you could open a bank account with just a handshake and your word? Remember when you could use cash for everything and nobody thought it was suspicious? Each of those freedoms was traded away for promises of security and convenience. And each time we were told it would never be expanded beyond its original purpose. But that's not how power works. Power expands. It always expands. Give someone a tool for control and they will find new ways to use it, no matter what they promised when you first handed it over.
And that brings us to the most dangerous part of the digital ID system. It's not just about identification. It's about tying your identity to your money. And when the government controls both your identity and your money, they control you completely. This is where central bank digital currencies come into play—programmable money that can be turned on and off like a light switch. Imagine your bank account, but instead of being controlled by a private bank that at least has to compete for your business, it's controlled by the same government that decides what's acceptable speech, what's acceptable behaviour, and what's acceptable thinking.
With the digital ID tied to programmable money, here's what becomes possible: your account gets flagged because you donated to the wrong political candidate; your transactions get frozen because you attended the wrong rally; your spending gets restricted because you bought too much of something the government thinks is bad for you; your access to your own money gets cut off because you shared the wrong article on social media. This is exactly what's already happening in other parts of the world where digital currencies and social credit systems are being tested. The technology exists, the motivation exists, the infrastructure is being built. The only question is whether Americans will recognise the threat before it's too late.
And the thing about the system—from a control perspective—is that it's invisible. When they freeze your account, there's no dramatic arrest, no public trial, no obvious oppression that might spark sympathy or outrage. Your card just stops working. Your payments just get declined. Your access just gets suspended "for security reasons" while they "investigate your account activity." You become un-personed without anyone even noticing, because in a digital system you only exist when the system says you exist. And if the system says you don't exist, well, good luck proving otherwise.
But it doesn't stop with money, because money is just the first domino in a much larger system of control. Once your financial life is digital and trackable, everything else follows. Your healthcare becomes digital and trackable. Your travel becomes digital and trackable. Your communications become digital and trackable. Your very thoughts—as expressed through your online searches and social media activity—become digital and trackable. Suddenly, the government doesn't just know what you're doing; they know what you're thinking. And in a system where your access to everything depends on your compliance with government approval, thinking the wrong thoughts becomes a very expensive mistake.
Picture this. It's a Tuesday morning and you go to check into your doctor's appointment using your digital ID—just like you've done dozens of times before. But today, the system pauses. A message appears: "Account verification needed. Please contact customer service." Your appointment gets cancelled. Your prescription refill gets delayed. Your insurance claims get put on hold. What happened? Well, maybe you shared an article about natural immunity that the algorithm flagged as "medical misinformation." Maybe you questioned a new policy online. Maybe you liked the wrong post from a friend. The system doesn't tell you exactly what triggered the flag—that would make it too easy to avoid in the future. The goal isn't to educate you. It's to make you anxious, uncertain, and compliant.
This is the world we're building, one convenience at a time. A world where every website you visit, every purchase you make, every place you go, every person you talk to gets added to your permanent digital record. And unlike the old days when you could pay cash and walk away anonymously—or when different parts of your life were separate and private—everything becomes connected in one massive surveillance web. The genius of it, if you can call something this sinister "genius," is that it happens gradually enough that each step feels normal. Today you need your digital ID to renew your driver's license. Next month you need it to register to vote. Next year you need it to collect social security. The year after that you need it to get hired for any job. And eventually, trying to live without it becomes like trying to live without electricity or running water—technically possible, but practically impossible in modern society.
Now you might be thinking, "But I've got nothing to hide. If you're not doing anything wrong, why should you be worried?" And I understand that sentiment. It's natural. It's human. And it's exactly what they're counting on. But here's the thing: doing nothing wrong isn't a fixed standard. What's acceptable today might be illegal tomorrow. What's encouraged today might be criminalised next year. The same people who decide what counts as "wrong" are the ones who would control your digital ID, your access to money, and your ability to participate in society.
Think about how much the definition of "acceptable" has changed just in your lifetime. Things your grandparents said freely are now considered hate speech. Political opinions that were mainstream when you were young are now called extremism. Medical questions that doctors used to encourage are now labelled as dangerous misinformation. The speed of this change is accelerating, not slowing down. And in a system where your ability to live depends on staying within the boundaries of "acceptability," those boundaries become a moving target that you can never quite pin down. The result is self-censorship, self-policing, and self-silencing—which is exactly the goal. You see, the most effective censorship isn't the kind where they drag you away in the middle of the night. It's the kind where you do it to yourself because you're afraid of losing access to everything you need to survive.
When your money, your healthcare, your housing, and your employment all depend on your digital ID staying in good standing, you become very, very careful about what you say, what you think, and who you associate with. Your right to privacy isn't conditional on your obedience to the government. Your freedom to speak your mind isn't something you have to earn through compliance. Your ability to control your own money isn't a privilege granted by bureaucrats. These are fundamental rights that belong to you simply because you're human. But in a digital ID system tied to programmable money, all of these rights become permissions that can be revoked at any time, for any reason, by people you've never met and can't hold accountable.
And that's the key word: accountability. Who's making these decisions about your digital identity? Who decides what behaviour is acceptable? Who determines what speech is allowed? Who controls the algorithms that flag your account? Who reviews the appeals when the system makes a mistake? The uncomfortable truth is that most of these decisions are being made by unelected officials and government agencies and programmers at tech companies, working together in ways that the public doesn't see and can't influence. There's no referendum on digital surveillance. There's no real public debate about whether we want to live in a society where every transaction is monitored and every movement is tracked. Instead, it's being rolled out piece by piece behind closed doors, dressed up as technological progress and administrative efficiency. By the time most people realize what's happening, the infrastructure is already in place, the dependencies are already created, and opting out is no longer a realistic option.
But here's the thing about American democracy that gives me hope. We still have ways to fight back if we're willing to use them. The system isn't implemented yet. The infrastructure isn't complete. The legal framework isn't locked in stone. We still have time to change course. Right now, there are already efforts underway to oppose these systems before they become law. Petitions are circulating that have gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures—some reports suggest the numbers are reaching into the millions—demanding that digital ID systems not be implemented without full public debate and consent. These petitions are forcing the issue into parliamentary and congressional discussions where it can't be quietly implemented behind closed doors.
And your everyday choices matter more than you might think. One of the most powerful forms of resistance is also one of the simplest: use cash whenever possible. Cash is private, anonymous, and completely outside the digital surveillance system. Every time you pay with cash instead of a card, you're voting for privacy. You're voting for independence. You're voting for a world where not every transaction is recorded and monitored. I know using cash isn't always convenient, especially when so many businesses are pushing toward digital payments. But that's exactly why it's important. The more we rely on digital systems for everything, the easier it becomes for those systems to control us. Keeping cash alive keeps freedom alive.
You can also support businesses and platforms that respect your privacy and don't require digital ID verification for every interaction. Vote with your wallet for companies that still believe in customer privacy. Use search engines that don't track you. Choose social media platforms that don't monitor your private messages. Support banks that still offer traditional services without requiring digital identity verification for basic transactions.
And perhaps most importantly, talk to your friends and family about these issues. One of the reasons these systems are being implemented so quietly is that most people don't understand what's happening or why it matters. They see digital convenience and think it sounds nice. They don't see the surveillance infrastructure being built around them. Help them understand that this isn't about technology. It's about power. It's about whether we want to live in a society where citizens are free, or one where everyone needs government permission for basic activities of daily life. Share articles about what's happening in other countries. Point out the incremental changes happening here at home. Ask them simple questions: Do you want the government to know every time you buy groceries? Do you want your bank account to be turned off if you express the wrong political opinion? Do you want algorithms deciding whether you're allowed to travel?
Most people, when they really think about it, don't want to live in that kind of world. The problem is that most people aren't thinking about it, because the changes are happening slowly and quietly, wrapped in language about convenience and security. But there's something even more fundamental we need to understand about this entire issue. When you strip away all the technical details, all the policy arguments, all the promises about efficiency and security, digital ID systems are really about one thing: power. Who has the power to control how you live your life? Who has the power to monitor your behaviour? Who has the power to cut off your access to money, healthcare, employment, and basic services? In a free society, that power belongs to you. In a surveillance society, that power belongs to whoever controls the digital systems.
This isn't about Left versus Right, Democrat versus Republican, liberal versus conservative. Those old political categories are becoming increasingly irrelevant in a world where the real divide is between people who want to control others and people who want to be left alone. There are people on both sides of the traditional political spectrum who love the idea of having more power over their fellow citizens. And there are people on both sides who believe in individual freedom and limited government power. The digital ID issue cuts across party lines because it's fundamentally about human freedom, not partisan politics. The question we're facing as a society is simple: Do we want to live in a world where every citizen has the freedom to make their own choices, even when those choices aren't perfect? Or do we want to live in a world where algorithms and bureaucrats make those choices for us in the name of efficiency and security? Do we want to live in a world where you can disagree with your government without losing access to your money? Or do we want a world where financial survival depends on political compliance?
These aren't small questions. These are the questions that will determine what kind of country we leave to our children and grandchildren. And the window for answering them is closing fast. The people pushing these systems are counting on our apathy, our distraction, our willingness to trade freedom for convenience — one small step at a time. They're betting that by the time we realise what we've lost, we'll be too dependent on their systems to resist. But they're forgetting something important about Americans. When we finally wake up to a threat to our freedom, we don't just resist. We fight back with everything we've got. And right now, we still have the tools to win this fight without it becoming an actual fight. We have the political system. We have the Constitution. We have economic choices. We have the power of public opinion. We have the ability to organise, to speak out, and to demand better from our leaders. The question is whether we'll use these tools while we still have them — or whether we'll wait until it's too late and wonder why we didn't act when action was still possible.
Digital ID isn't just another app or another government program. It's the foundation of a system where freedom becomes conditional, where privacy becomes a luxury, and where your ability to live depends on your willingness to comply with ever-changing rules made by people you can't hold accountable. The United States (and Australia) still has a chance to say no to the system before it's too late — but only if people stay awake, stay vocal, and refuse to sleepwalk into a surveillance state that makes George Orwell's worst nightmares look like a pleasant dream. So, let's keep this conversation alive.
https://ianbrighthope.substack.com/p/elon-the-digital-id-and-the-digital