Digital Identity

I have only just discovered this and will probably make use of it but at the moment don't know much about it.

You do need a mobile phone or tablet so Realspeed is stuffed.

On my phone I already have some Government apps such as MyGov (Federal) and ServiceNSW (NSW) for which I have a PIN numbers as well as login and password - my phone is password and fingerprint protected too.

I presume that you have something similar to the Digital ID in the UK, is that so? Do you use it?



The MyGov app deals with such matters as

Australian JobSearch
Australian Taxation Office
Centrelink
Child Support
Department of Health Applications Portal
Department of Veterans' Affairs
HousingNSW Online Services
Individual Healthcare Identifiers Service
Medicare
My Aged Care
My Health Record
National Cancer Screening Register
National Disability Insurance Scheme
National Redress Scheme
State Revenue Office NSW.

Whereas the Service NSW app handles

COVID Safe Check-in
COVID-19 resources
Digital licences
Driver licences verifier
All NSW licensing (Fishing, boating etc)
Vehicle registration checks and renewal
Fines and demerits

I am hoping that having a Digital Identity makes using all these apps and dealing with government bodies easier

https://www.digitalidentity.gov.au/h...gital-identity

Re: Digital Identity

We have an app called Bank-ID in Sweden that we use for a number of things similar to those you mentioned Bruce as well as banking.

On our iPhones it's coupled to our two stage authentication, first face ID, then a password and finlly an eight digit pin code in the Bank-ID app.

On our Mac we have a separate electronic card reader with a Bank-ID card inserted. Whenever Bank-ID is required we get an eight digit code that we punch into the card reader which then gives us a random eight digit code to punch into the Bank-ID app to confirm the transaction

Re: Digital Identity

As far as I am aware the UK has not yet introduced the digital identity to the extent you have in Australia. Things are going that way, but slowly I believe. It would be a good idea and save a lot of problems I reckon. Some of which you describe as having access to via the apps we have to access separately, from what I see this allows various ways of private companies charging for services which are free or very much less costly than happens when similar websites are accessed.

I welcome the day when various government departments and others can be accessed more easily. The modern digital age seems to be creating the need for so many passwords etc. that it's a minefield. A while back I 'lost' access to my laptop, on buying a new one I had so many various passwords / customer account numbers etc. for just the usual utilities plus pensions, insurances and financial services like investments and banks that it was a nightmare trying to set everything up again. This was made worse by the fact I was on a new laptop, which it seems caused further problems when trying to set up new passwords. In all I believe there were around 21 different accounts I had to sort out, a real problem.

Why, for example, do we have to carry all our driving documents: Driving Licence, Insurance, MoT certificates when it could all be on our phones, it's beyond me. If stopped by police and we are not carrying any ID and cannot prove who we are we can be arrested. They have digital access to all the driving documents etc. but it seems we do not!

Out of curiosity I did search to see what was happening in this area and found the UK government website below, assuming this is the latest news (September 2020) we are way behind yourselves in this:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/n...gital-identity

Even something like your QR code and the ways these can be used doesn't seem to be something a lot of people are aware of. The younger generation though are very savvy when it comes to this but the older generation don't seem to be.

Interesting post anyway Bruce so thanks for that. Also by the way, your blog and the latest about your recent journeys with your daughter are very interesting to read. That was accessed in a way I had never thought of, not until my granddaughter explained about QR codes, the youngsters' minds just seem to be 'wired' differently to those of their grandparents!

Re: Digital Identity

In the UK, with the lack of all you describe, it's not surprising there are so many banking scams where people lose £ thousands. We have just about got to using two-step authentication and that's only in use with some financial organisations. That works well from my own experience, just a code number sent to your mobile, that is far better than some of the methods used by those who have not yet gone over to using that. Some that I use are still requiring a customer number plus a password, very easy for one account but when there are several it's not so easy, it's just something else to try and remember, or write down which we are not supposed to be doing.

Personally I would welcome a easier way of doing things, it's just becoming far too complicated with all the differing methods of 'security', as I found out to my cost when I totally 'lost' all access to my laptop a while back.

Re: Digital Identity

I have the NHS Covid-19 App installed on the phone (the one that scans QR codes). My phone is fingerprint and PIN protected.

There is no phone app in the UK similar to the one you have but there is the GOV.UK site that is a gateway for all government departments. I use the computer for that, or often just do a search for a particular service. This tends to take me to the right place more quickly.

Re: Digital Identity

We have to be careful that easier access doesn't mean less security.

I don't think our security measures are poor here. A couple of banks that I know of use card readers for logging in. My bank doesn't but it uses a few factors for me to be able to get into it.

In my experience, any government department where personal information in being transmitted certainly make good and sure it's me before anything takes place.

Bank and money scams don't happen because security is poor. They happen because people are coerced into giving information away willingly. No security measure is going to be able to overcome that.

Re: Digital Identity

If this is the government website you use then there's a lot of information on there, all in the one place too, which makes it easy to use:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations

It's random searching where the unwary can so easily fall into the trap of paying out more or paying at all for certain services. They don't look for the .gov.uk at the end of the URL so click on a website that looks very similar, it can in fact be a website offering that service to you but at a cost and proceeds to rip you off. The user's fault admittedly but this couldn't happen so easily if there was an app giving similar information to the above link, to access all government departments.

Re: Digital Identity

Until reading about card readers in another post here I was unaware banks are using them, mine doesn't but does use two-tier authentication.

Yes, human vulnerability is the scammers method when it comes to scamming people out of £ thousands. Security measures cannot combat this I agree but I do feel new technology could be better used to assist the unwary when they become involved in some kind of scam.

Many years' ago when I was moving money around, quite large amounts from an inheritance, life insurance payouts and a mortgage ending my bank telephoned me when they saw large amounts being moved. It was probably in aid of them getting investment business but in that same way, and using modern technology, I feel that could help prevent scams.

The ultimate answer would be to stop all the scamming but we know that's not going to happen. All that can be done is to make that more difficult, the technology we have is a step in the right direction but I do feel there's a way to go yet.

When credit card scamming first started those companies chose a less expensive security method which probably allowed more scamming. Had they chosen a more expensive method that generated random codes when a purchase was made many people would not have been ripped-off. All this is not quite as bad if the banks pay out when someone is scammed, they do make enough profits. However, when they will not accept responsibility it's then that customers suffer which is wrong I reckon.

Re: Digital Identity

Baz,

A Bank DP Manager once told me that, if they took responsibility for all of money lost to scammers, the Banks would all be empty within a week!

In my opinion, to make any kind of security workable, they have to make the account holder feel some pain.

Then that person might even read the guidance and be more careful, in future.

If people were being very careful, scamming would not be so prevalent.

i

Re: Digital Identity

I'm sorry but all this high tec security just makes my head hurt...