Arguably, there are several pros to having e-government services (be it state, federal or local) online, number one in my mind being CONVENIENCE. Really, who has time to trek to various locations, and wait in long, frustrating lines to transact necessary business or get needed information? Not me! Online I can buy stamps, file taxes, renew my driver’s license or passport, and even register to donate an organ -- see Government Made Easy. For me, having these services online makes it far more efficient for me to get things done and more efficient for the agency to gather, process and disseminate the information. Plus, it would be a welcome day when I never again have a face-to-face interaction with a government worker.
Privacy and hyper-surveillance would probably be the biggest cons. But privacy on the Internet is an illusion. Every time we browse much of our information like IP address is captured, cookies stored, adware and spyware downloaded, and behavioral advertising data sold all without our knowledge or conscious permission. And as for hyper-surveillance, doesn’t the government have access to all our personal information anyway – social security number, DOB, credit history, name, rank and serial number? Government sites contain just as much personal information (maybe less) as your bank, e-harmony, or Facebook (FB), so you’re no more at risk on government sites than you are on social sites.
Earlier this year Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, held a press conference to address the issue of new policy protocol to protect the personal information of its over 400 million users. For the many FB addicts out there, are you concerned about privacy risks when upload all your vacation photos, update your status religiously every hour? Do you read the privacy policy carefully and do you know how and with whom your information is being shared? So what’s the concern with the government site?
The International Business Times wrote that on April Fools Day, a British company, GameStation, proved that over 88% of users on their site don’t read privacy conditions when they were easily able to take possession of 7,500 “Immortal Souls.” Do you think e-government will steal your soul?
Sources:
E-marketing For Sensible Folk: http://e-marketingforsensiblefolk.blogspot.com/
International Business Times: “Online privacy: Is there any?” Joseph Picard
International Business Times: “Online privacy: Is there any?” Joseph Picard
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Government
The New York Times: http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/z/mark_e_zuckerberg/index.html
Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/15/online-shoppers-unknowingly-sold-souls/
I totally agree when you name CONVENIENCE as number 1 pro to e-Government. With everything that most people have to take care of these days, time is a priority when it comes to get things done. And if you think about the size of lines at government agencies, the fact that you could avoid all that just by going online and clicking on the bottom that relates to your problem, or file, or whatever it might be is just great!
ReplyDeleteI love the prank that GameStation did. That is pretty funny. I'm not concerned with the government stealing my soul. I do agree that the convenience is exponential. I really enjoy not having to go to a million offices and instead filling out forms online. I do have privacy concerns. But I think the convenience outweighs my fears to an extent.
ReplyDeleteI agree, e-government services are a great way to make the system more efficient and convenient for everybody. I do not worry about the fact that I spend less time in person to person interaction with people that I don't know because I rather to spend it with the people that I love and doing the things that I enjoy, instead of spending it making lines to pay for taxes or in City Hall meetings.
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