Expert Reactions: Rebecca Nielsen, Senior Associate
David touches on the key requirements for eGovernment – convenient, easy, and secure. But there is an interesting dichotomy in the online activities of citizens. People often want strong authentication when it means verifying that they are interacting with the organization they think they are talking to, and they want personalization of their user experience. At the same time they may also want personal anonymity. Citizens don’t always want the government or even commercial entities to be able to monitor their on-line activities. If providing their personal information is a requirement of the transaction, such as providing financial information to the IRS when submitting income tax forms, then they want it protected. But for many types of transactions, citizens would prefer not providing personal information at all. Data protection from unauthorized attackers and transparency regarding the sharing of personal information are important, but sometimes the best way to protect personal information is to eliminate the requirement for providing it in the first place.
