The UK is really weird in this regard, things like ID cards were massively rejected as far too authoritarian but we also have a government that wanted to bring in an insane internet restrictions. I think it comes of not having had a revolution in our recent history, much of Europe has the Nazis or Soviets in living memory to inoculate against trusting the government too much, our last experiment with overthrowing the government was Cromwell in the 17th century and he imposed a regime so austere and repressive we reverted back to a monarchy (albeit a constitutional one) and have stayed that way since.