Submitted by nastratin t3_z8ydmf in Futurology
Comments
FuturologyBot t1_iye3n7v wrote
The following submission statement was provided by /u/nastratin:
Estonia is a small country with a population of only 1.3 million. In 2005, it became the first country in the world to allow its citizens to vote online in elections, and today 46.9% of those eligible opt to vote online.
Almost everything in Estonia can now be done online – from filing taxes to signing contracts to ordering prescriptions. Only those that marry or want to get a divorce have to physically visit an office.
The Estonian government estimates that going digital has saved the state and its citizens, 820 years in time and resources, and the country routinely places first in internet freedom, online services, digital public services, and cybersecurity.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/z8ydmf/estonia_saved_its_citizens_820_years_by_moving/iydxzdr/
Sirisian t1_iye8r8v wrote
We've had this discussion a few times in this subreddit. In the US specifically a national ID is contentious due to federal vs state bureaucracy. This has been shifting as we have Real ID guidelines which more or less standardize all IDs. It's basically a formality now that each state has its own ID. The other issue is national IDs need to be very cheap or subsidized. This used to be contentious, but states have been creating methods to get free IDs for voting for a while. Adding public/private keys to IDs might have some pushback due to ignorance of how cryptography works. That said, a lot of people now use chip payment and debit/credit cards and are more comfortable with the concept of secure communication. (Military people are familiar with Common Access Cards which are identical to what a national ID card is, so we have methods for producing them in mass quantities).
I view this as an inevitability as technology progresses and technology literacy increases. If you want to help you can talk about this with others. Being able to file taxes securely and do every government action securely has huge benefits for people and can basically eliminate identity theft. Anyone interested in lowering administration costs can usually be swayed with these systems. The cards more than pay for themselves with the added efficiency.
[deleted] t1_iyewekw wrote
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RS_Mich t1_iyeztnr wrote
This metric of 820 years makes no sense. It’s obviously not 820 years per person, but 820 years across the whole population works out to a few hours each, which is pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things. It’s also not 820 years of technological progress for society, as they are only a few years ahead of other countries at best.
redingerforcongress t1_iyfcqaz wrote
If I remember correctly, Estonia's system was compromised within the last 5-10 years.
I believe they had to reissue identity cards for most of their population
nastratin OP t1_iydxzdr wrote
Estonia is a small country with a population of only 1.3 million. In 2005, it became the first country in the world to allow its citizens to vote online in elections, and today 46.9% of those eligible opt to vote online.
Almost everything in Estonia can now be done online – from filing taxes to signing contracts to ordering prescriptions. Only those that marry or want to get a divorce have to physically visit an office.
The Estonian government estimates that going digital has saved the state and its citizens, 820 years in time and resources, and the country routinely places first in internet freedom, online services, digital public services, and cybersecurity.