The United Kingdom is rolling back its plans to introduce BritCard as the sole digital ID for people to provide as proof of their right to work in the country.

“The difference is whether that has to be one piece of ID – a digital ID card – or whether it can be an e-visa or an e-passport. And we’re pretty relaxed about what form that takes.” Britain’s top economic official, Rachel Reeves, told the BBC on Wednesday.

In September, Prime Minister Keir Starmer explained plans to introduce the new digital ID known as the BritCard, which would be required for someone to prove that they have the right to work in Britain, The New York Times reported. He said it was a way to deter illegal immigrants from coming to the country to find work.

Reeves also said that the objective to eliminate illegal immigration had not changed, and that the government still planned to introduce a system of digital verification for the right to work in the UK.

“We’re going to be consulting on what exact form that takes, but I want to be really clear: to work in the UK, you’ve got to be able to prove digitally that you can work in the UK,” Reeves said.

The new system would also be used to guard against identity theft and streamline identity checks, the government said in September, which would simplify services like applying for child care or welfare.

Britain’s secretary for transport, Heidi Alexander, told BBC Radio 4 that the government was still “absolutely committed” to requiring digital checks for the right to work, as the current system is inadequate.

“At the moment, we’ve got a paper-based system; there’s no proper records kept,” Alexander said. “It makes it very difficult, then, to target enforcement action sensibly against businesses that are employing illegal workers.”

Opposition politicians and digital rights groups are opposed to the BritCard proposal, raising concerns over data security and civil liberties. A petition on the Parliament’s website that calls on the government to stop the system received nearly 3 million signatures.