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A related hill I will die on it that the US needs a government backed email addressing system for anyone with a government ID. The current option of going "pap

A related hill I will die on it that the US needs a government backed email addressing system for anyone with a government ID. The current option of going "paperless" by way of providing a privately owned email address is a huge risk factor. Gmail should not have access to view my government related emails. They aren't accountable for network issues either that may result in personal damages. The email itself is commingled with spam streams, related filters, and other things. We need a dedicated, government protected, digital communication line. Sending mail through it would be tied to your government identity. Behavior is then open to regulation and accountability. Which is a good thing for the specific need of two known identities talking to each other. Google can be the contract vendor for the service, that's fine. But there needs to be a contract setup where they are simply providing the service and not owning the data / contents. Maybe Microsoft outbids them the following year, and the underlying provider changes to no observable effect to the users. that kind of thing. As a bonus, it would be immensely helpful for people dealing with permanent housing issues and the host of problems that are associated with requiring a mailing address for things. A government regulated email address would be sufficient for a lot of those things.

deleted 4y ago
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mihaic 4y ago
I totally agree with you, although I'd imagine for the US your first uphill battle would be to convince people that a central government ID is a good idea. I've been mentioning this idea in private conversations in Europe for many years, even here people react almost violently against it. I'm always surprised at people saying that "government can't tech", without ever demanding competence from the thing that takes a good chunk of their income.
- cupofpython 4y ago
  In the US we each have a Social Security Number, which is a central government ID. I think that would be sufficient for user assignment SSN alone shouldnt be sufficient for account creation so you'd probably have to jump through the usual 2-3 forms of ID to get access to your account, but then the email itself could act as another form of ID. Which would be super useful in lots of situations, especially if you lose one of your other forms. Also there is a lot of digital user verification workaround right now that would be solved by this. I would much rather interact with a government controlled email address than scan and send a copy of my drivers license to online services
- dr_spicy 4y ago
  > in Europe [...] people react almost violently against it. Are you saying this doesn't exist? Idk about other countries, but at least in Denmark they have this today. While some people quibble about various small issues with the system, I definitely think they're much better off than the US.
  - mihaic 4y ago
    Re-reading, I definitely mis-spoke: I meant I've spoken about a government provided email system, as IDs are standard almost everywhere except perhaps the UK. Yes, I do agree that the problems with a central ID are solvable instead of the insanity of the US system.

deleted 4y ago

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mihaic 4y ago

I totally agree with you, although I'd imagine for the US your first uphill battle would be to convince people that a central government ID is a good idea. I've been mentioning this idea in private conversations in Europe for many years, even here people react almost violently against it. I'm always surprised at people saying that "government can't tech", without ever demanding competence from the thing that takes a good chunk of their income.

cupofpython 4y ago
In the US we each have a Social Security Number, which is a central government ID. I think that would be sufficient for user assignment SSN alone shouldnt be sufficient for account creation so you'd probably have to jump through the usual 2-3 forms of ID to get access to your account, but then the email itself could act as another form of ID. Which would be super useful in lots of situations, especially if you lose one of your other forms. Also there is a lot of digital user verification workaround right now that would be solved by this. I would much rather interact with a government controlled email address than scan and send a copy of my drivers license to online services
dr_spicy 4y ago
> in Europe [...] people react almost violently against it. Are you saying this doesn't exist? Idk about other countries, but at least in Denmark they have this today. While some people quibble about various small issues with the system, I definitely think they're much better off than the US.
- mihaic 4y ago
  Re-reading, I definitely mis-spoke: I meant I've spoken about a government provided email system, as IDs are standard almost everywhere except perhaps the UK. Yes, I do agree that the problems with a central ID are solvable instead of the insanity of the US system.