 – is being developed jointly by the Bank of England and Treasury as an online alternative to cash. The proposal is part of a wider effort to turn Britain into a tech hub by embracing new technology. However, it has attracted criticism from opponents concerned about privacy and unsure whether it is really necessary. A public consultation by the Bank and the Treasury attracted more than 50,000 responses, many of them negative. If Britcoin works as described, no centralised information would be held by the Government and users would have full control over what they chose to share. Speaking earlier to Bloomberg, Mr Johnson said that the system might be able to replace showing a drivers' licence or passport. He said: 'You can proof-of-age without demonstrating age. 'There's other assets that you can demonstrate – are you a UK citizen on your pas){kind=link}
Shops would be able to use digital pound for verification, says developer working on project
Rishi Sunak’s new “Britcoin” digital currency could be used to check shoppers’ ages or nationalities, a developer working on the project has said, amid mounting concerns over privacy.
Alastair Johnson, founder of Nuggets, said that consumers could choose to share personal data with a shop when they buy certain items, such as to speed up age checks on cigarettes and alcohol.
Mr Johnson – whose business is working for the Bank of England on a possible ID verification for the system – said that the project could be more private than holding a bank account, where information is stored on servers that could theoretically be hacked.
Nonetheless, privacy campaigners said they were concerned about the plans.