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In Germany the postal service does what GP described by validating someone's identity for various purposes > Deutsche Post offers a secure identity check servi

In Germany the postal service does what GP described by validating someone's identity for various purposes > Deutsche Post offers a secure identity check service – to millions of users every year. > On behalf of your contracting party > To ensure that only identified persons have access to sensitive services > To sensitive services including those from the financial services sector (such as opening an online bank account), telecommunications (activating a prepaid SIM card), health care (access to health information) or the mobility industry (including car sharing). https://www.deutschepost.de/en/p/postident.html https://www.deutschepost.de/en/p/postident.html

EvanAnderson 5y ago
Stories about foreign countries and their societal infrastructure, as an American, make me really envious and sad for my country's state of affairs. It's kind of like the feeling I get looking at somebody with a very nice car or house: "Oh, it would be neat to have such a thing but there's no way I'd ever splurge and get that." It's difficult for me to conceive of some things other countries have as just being "normal".
- mistrial9 5y ago
  it is selection bias -- the people with miserable and oppressive systems do not report it in detail, in English, on YNews right? second, many systems of law treat individuals quite differently.. many systems that are not repeated in detail, on YNews, do not give much choice to an individual by design
  - EvanAnderson 5y ago
    I'm not suggesting that the United States is particularly bad. There are definitely many places in the world that are much worse off from so many perspectives (lack of rule of law, system of governance, economy, social safety net, class mobility, corruption, etc). It could be better in so many ways, though, too. It would be nice if younger people (say, sub-70) would (and could be permitted to) take up the mantles of leadership.
    - nitrogen 5y ago
      It would be nice if younger people (say, sub-70) would (and could be permitted to) take up the mantles of leadership. I'd really like to read a speculative fiction/scifi where every generation operates under its own system of laws, and you can opt in to a neighboring generation's laws instead once every N years or something.
- kanbara 5y ago
  only issue with Postident is that they are annoying and weren't accepting certain passports for foreign nationals for a time. also, they have an online system you can sort-of use now but also not really, and you cannot use a valid permanent residence card even tho it's issued by the german govt... it _is_ pretty alright though
all2 5y ago
Why is activating a pre-paid sim card a "sensitive service"?
- jdavis703 5y ago
  To mitigate criminal activity ranging from stolen phones, to cellphone-activated bombs to evading wiretaps. I’m not arguing this is a good reason, but likely the reason this exists as a requirement.
gumby 5y ago
Let me point out that this service should not be necessary: every german ID has a physical key infrastructure necessary for any shop or vendor to do this with a local terminal, yet the enabling legislation deliberately didn’t instruct the government to build out any ecosystem. Compare this with, say, Estonia where practically everything can be handled through the keys in the ID card.

EvanAnderson 5y ago

Stories about foreign countries and their societal infrastructure, as an American, make me really envious and sad for my country's state of affairs. It's kind of like the feeling I get looking at somebody with a very nice car or house: "Oh, it would be neat to have such a thing but there's no way I'd ever splurge and get that." It's difficult for me to conceive of some things other countries have as just being "normal".

mistrial9 5y ago
it is selection bias -- the people with miserable and oppressive systems do not report it in detail, in English, on YNews right? second, many systems of law treat individuals quite differently.. many systems that are not repeated in detail, on YNews, do not give much choice to an individual by design
- EvanAnderson 5y ago
  I'm not suggesting that the United States is particularly bad. There are definitely many places in the world that are much worse off from so many perspectives (lack of rule of law, system of governance, economy, social safety net, class mobility, corruption, etc). It could be better in so many ways, though, too. It would be nice if younger people (say, sub-70) would (and could be permitted to) take up the mantles of leadership.
  - nitrogen 5y ago
    It would be nice if younger people (say, sub-70) would (and could be permitted to) take up the mantles of leadership. I'd really like to read a speculative fiction/scifi where every generation operates under its own system of laws, and you can opt in to a neighboring generation's laws instead once every N years or something.
kanbara 5y ago
only issue with Postident is that they are annoying and weren't accepting certain passports for foreign nationals for a time. also, they have an online system you can sort-of use now but also not really, and you cannot use a valid permanent residence card even tho it's issued by the german govt... it _is_ pretty alright though

all2 5y ago

Why is activating a pre-paid sim card a "sensitive service"?

jdavis703 5y ago
To mitigate criminal activity ranging from stolen phones, to cellphone-activated bombs to evading wiretaps. I’m not arguing this is a good reason, but likely the reason this exists as a requirement.

gumby 5y ago

Let me point out that this service should not be necessary: every german ID has a physical key infrastructure necessary for any shop or vendor to do this with a local terminal, yet the enabling legislation deliberately didn’t instruct the government to build out any ecosystem. Compare this with, say, Estonia where practically everything can be handled through the keys in the ID card.