The Free Speech Union has made a submission to the Australian Parliament on the Digital ID Bill 2023.

Our concerns cover two different areas. The first is the possibility of these ID providers to become gatekeepers, just as existing payment processors are. We note that the Bill as presently drafted provides no protection against the arbitary denial of such services. Due to this failing, there is a significant risk that the difficulties with payment processors is repeated, and members of the public are cut off due to exercising their Free Speech rights, or because someone finds what they said to be objectionable.

The second is the lack of Free Speech imposed on cybersecurity professionals. Openness should be at the heart of any digital identity system. Yet the present Bill is based on secrecy, and the long derided approach of 'security via obscurity'. By taking this approach, the proposed Digital ID system is likely to be insecure and untrustworthy, with its 'security' being an illusion maintained by an de facto prohibtion on effective criticism by those experts best placed to assess its safety.

For more details, please see the below submission: