Young Scot National Entitlement Card

The Scottish National Entitlement Card (NEC) is a Scotland-wide smart card run by the Scottish Government that is predominantly operated as a concessionary travel pass. It can also act as Proof of Age for young people (Young Scot NEC) and access to civic services such as libraries and leisure centres depending on the local authority.

Each Scot is assigned a Unique Citizen Reference Number (UCRN) which the card system links each user to. Critics claim that this enables data to be tracked across the Scottish state. The UCRN itself may be linked to NHS register data and used for verification purposes, raising fears that the UCRN will form the backbone of a Scottish identity register and persistent identification of individuals across Scottish state datasets. The Open Rights Group has accused the scheme of creating "a national ID system by the backdoor", despite the Scottish Government's opposition to the UK's previous identity cards scheme.

The Scottish NEC offers certain disabled groups and persons aged 60+ access to free or discounted travel across various transport options.

Access to certain discounted options vary depending on where the pass was issued.

Entitlement for free bus travel with the NEC depends on being a Scottish resident, 5 years old or older and meeting one of the following criteria:

If the main cardholder meets any of the following criteria, they are also entitled for a Companion to travel with them and, usually, attracting the same discount as the main cardholder:

To get a National Entitlement Card you must be:

Young Scot is a national organisation supported by the Scottish Government that offers support and advice to 11- to 26-year-olds. As part of this, the Scottish Government supports the free Young Scot National Entitlement Card and offers every 12- to 18-year-old the opportunity to sign up for it.

The Young Scot NEC gives cardholders:

In addition, for young people aged 16- to 18-year-olds plus 19- to 25-year-olds who volunteer full-time, there are the following transport-related discounts:

...
Wikipedia