from Hacker News

EU agrees to introduce eID ignoring privacy concerns

by porsager on 11/8/23, 10:28 PM with 57 comments

  • by denysvitali on 11/8/23, 11:36 PM

    > We decide on something, leave it lying around and wait and see what happens. If no one kicks up a fuss, because most people don't understand what has been decided, we continue step by step until there is no turning back.

  • by Kim_Bruning on 11/9/23, 7:01 AM

    This is part of a wider strategy that also includes the QUACs people were talking about earlier:

    https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-...

    I'm not sure what to think about this strategy.

    On one hand they do seem to be trying to put together a unified coherent system.

    On the other there's a lot of experts saying they're making a hash of it.

  • by isodev on 11/9/23, 5:51 AM

    What are these privacy concerns though? I live in Belgium and we’ve had eID for ages - it’s fast, easy and convenient.

  • by cubefox on 11/9/23, 2:49 AM

    > I am not optimistic. But it is not too late yet. Parliament still has to vote about this. Let your MEP know that you oppose the Digital Identity and that you want your MEP to vote against it!

  • by olivierduval on 11/9/23, 8:29 AM

    Actually, Europe reasoning is quite simple:

    - Since "forever", laws apply to a specific PHYSICAL region (that's the basis for a concept of "government", be it democracy or other). These laws are enforced by "law enforcement forces", starting with "border law inforcement forces"

    - Between "etatic entities" there is "treaties" agreed by parties

    - But "the Internet" messed everything up: suddenly no law could be enforced because the was no VIRTUAL region with a "government" matching the PHYSICAL region

    Different governement solved this problem with different solutions:

    - China / Russia... used some kind of "Great firewall"

    - US used some kind of "soft power" (owning the main infrastructure + main economic actors + extraterritorial laws)

    Europe decided to find a mix between those: limiting US "soft power" with more rules (DSA, DMA), trying to develop European economic competitor... and limiting people abilty to escape to a "lawless internet with anonimity"

  • by gumby on 11/9/23, 12:45 AM

    Can citizens vote for MEPs even if they are not resident in their home country?

  • by akomtu on 11/9/23, 6:47 AM

    Which EU? The parliament or the commisars?

  • by alphanullmeric on 11/9/23, 2:38 AM

    Who could’ve guessed, coming from some of the biggest violators of financial privacy in the world.

  • by t43562 on 11/9/23, 9:18 AM

    Bad luck Mozilla and Google. A slight loosening of their stranglehold.