Digital ID: Protecting Kids or Tracking Adults? Episode 589

In this episode, host Niall dives into the government’s newly announced Digital Wallet and Age Verification Pilot, a scheme framed as a major step in protecting children online. But Niall isn’t buying the whole narrative. While he agrees that under-18s need better safeguards, he questions whether this “robust age-verification tool” is really just a backdoor for an EU-style digital ID.

Joining him are two key guests:

Patrick O’Donovan, Minister for Communications, who lays out the government’s plans for a nationwide pilot, the technology behind the digital wallet, and the legislation set to follow. He insists it’s all about child safety, limited data-sharing, and empowering families online.

Paul Tryvnauld, social commentator and privacy hawk, who interrogates the unintended consequences—mission creep, data centralisation, and whether citizens should trust any system that links identity, login access, and government notifications in a single app.

With Niall playing the sceptic, the conversation asks the uncomfortable questions politicians tend to avoid:
Who controls your digital identity?
How much personal data is too much?
And once a national digital wallet exists, what stops it from expanding?

As always, listeners take centre stage. Niall opens the phone lines with the question at the heart of the debate:

👉 “Are you willing to sign up for a digital wallet or ID in the name of protecting children?”