Digital identity
Could digital identity systems solve the “gender wars”? We explore how well-designed systems could meet requirements for safeguarding, science, sport and safety, allowing people to keep their sex private when it doesn’t matter but making sure that when it does matter, that data is accurate.
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Why digital ID must not ignore sex data
A summary of Sex Matters’ response to the government’s 2026 digital-identity consultation.
18th May 2026
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Will the government solve the sex-data problem in this Parliament?
As part of the King’s Speech on 13th May the government said that it will introduce a Digital Access...
18th May 2026
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Digital identity consultation response
Sex Matters’ response to the UK Government's consultation on digital identity, which ran from 10th March to 5th May...
5th May 2026
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Sex on digital identity – an equality impact assessment
We consider the impact across the nine protected characteristics of the government’s proposal to have no sex on digital...
5th May 2026
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What do Sex Matters supporters think of digital identity?
We sent out a survey to Sex Matters supporters to ask for their views on digital identity. 889 people...
29th April 2026
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Digital ID should include sex
The government has committed to creating a new national digital ID (BritCard) by the end of this Parliament, which...
23rd April 2026
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Putting sex on digital ID – a briefing
If a national digital ID is developed we think it should include sex as a voluntary field, and that...
23rd April 2026
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It’s time to COMMIT to fixing the data
We’re calling on the government to take the three steps that are urgently needed to protect everyone who uses...
6th November 2025
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Labour’s digital ID card “may let people choose their own gender”, MPs are warned
Sam Merriman for the Daily Mail.
Maya Forstater and advisory group member Professor Alice Sullivan are quoted.13th October 2025
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EHRC consultation: asking about sex at birth
This is the second in a series of posts focusing in detail on individual parts of the Equality and...
4th July 2025
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Digital identities risk enabling “catfishing” crimes
The Children’s Commissioner’s Office has agreed to meet with Sex Matters after we raised concerns that the government’s plans...
29th June 2025
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Sex and digital identities – briefing for Parliamentarians
The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 got royal assent on 19th June. Concerns had been raised that digital...
26th June 2025
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Letter to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, June 2025
The Data (Use and Access) Act got royal assent on 19th June. We wrote to Peter Kyle MP to...
25th June 2025
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Secretary of State writes to Sex Matters supporters about the data bill
On Friday (16th May) we received a letter from the Rt Hon Peter Kyle MP, Secretary of State for...
19th May 2025
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Letter to the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
We wrote to Peter Kyle MP on 18th May 2025 to flag three key problems with the reassurances he...
19th May 2025
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Government admits that passports are not reliable
Yesterday afternoon the House of Lords debated safeguards to ensure accurate sex data in digital identity services. These rely...
13th May 2025
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Letter to the Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation
Sex Matters wrote to Lord Vallance about comments he made in the House of Lords debate on amendments to...
13th May 2025
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House of Lords to debate digital identity amendments again
The Data Bill is back in the House of Lords this afternoon for the ‘ping pong’ stage of counter-amendments...
12th May 2025
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Data Bill – briefing for House of Lords debate on 12th May 2025
Following the recent Supreme Court judgment which has confirmed the importance of biological sex as a characteristic in life...
12th May 2025
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Inaccurate sex data: excuses and bad arguments
On 7th May the House of Commons debated new clause 21, a proposed amendment to the Data Bill. It...
9th May 2025
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URGENT ACTION: email your MP today on the Data Bill
The Supreme Court has confirmed that “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 means, and has always meant, “biological sex”....
5th May 2025
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Data Bill: amendment NC21 – briefing for Parliamentarians
Report stage – House of Commons 7th May 2025
5th May 2025
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We call on Peter Kyle to guard the information gateway
Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, is steering the Data Bill through Parliament. It...
11th April 2025
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The Sullivan Review and the Data Bill – Parliamentary briefing
The Review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender was published by the Department for Science, Innovation...
20th March 2025
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Why the government must act on the Sullivan Review and fix the sex data problem urgently
The long-awaited report of a review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender commissioned by the government...
19th March 2025
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Review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender (the Sullivan Review)
The 226-page review by Professor Alice Sullivan of University College London, commissioned by the government, sets out in careful...
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Government removes safeguards from digital identity bill
The government is passing legislation to establish a “trustmark” for digital identity services, and to allow these services to...
11th March 2025
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Is the government sleepwalking into a digital disaster?
The digital identities framework needs to account for individuals’ sex, says James Arbuthnot.
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Digital ID can’t be gender self-ID
We all have a right to have the fact of our sex correctly and reliably recorded.
3rd March 2025
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The Data Bill must protect the integrity of sex data
On Tuesday the Data Bill continues its march through the House of Commons. It is an important piece of...
3rd March 2025
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Data (Use and Access) Bill: going to the Commons – Parliamentary briefing
The government’s Data (Use and Access) Bill will soon be moving to the House of Commons, with the second...
7th February 2025
