"Technology now makes it possible for digital identities to be more secure than physical ones, but we remain clear that they will not be made mandatory."
So why is it that peoples digital IDs seem to get stolen by people who then use them for criminal activities.
Not mandatory.......wonder for how long.
Just another way for crims to steal your ID and force us all to have smart phones.
I think that stuff is on the same "If it can't happen, it won't happen" death dive that EVs, self-driving cars, and personal jet-packs for commuters are on.
I'm using the best part of digital money technology that I can. I haven't used a non "pay-at-the-pump" fuel pump in 10 years; I just go to the next place if the one I stop at doesn't have a card reader.
I pay all my regular monthly bills with an "ACH" debit that comes straight out of my account. No forgetting, no trouble, easy to budget, no surprises "Oh no, I forgot that the annual insurance bill was due, $3000, and I only have $1500 in the account". Let the computers take care of it.
So credit cards at the pump, and ACH debits for the monthly bills, take about half of my monthly pension.
The other half, ten years ago, was ALSO on a debit or credit card; I almost never used cash. But now, I cash half of my pension money each month and just use cash. Very many places are advertising cash prices, with a 3 to 4% "convenience charge" for using a card, or, alternatively, advertise the card price with a "cash discount" for cash.
This is exactly the opposite of what many people predicted would happen 20 years ago, that EVERYTHING would be digital money or BitCoin or an implanted chip in your hand or something, and cash would be obsolete. People don't trust that the government won't use digital money to hold you hostage for your "social credit score", or your beliefs, or something.
It's going in the right direction. Money ought to be made out of silver and gold, not paper with a promise printed on it.
LannisI don't take health advice from people who think the world is overpopulated.
That's very interesting, Lannis. Here we have a multitude of shop loyalty cards, the means by which they gather data on your shopping preferences. However, the 'discounts' for using them (aka pay inflated prices if you don't) are very significant in some of our bigger supermarkets and therefore well worth having. I don't really care if they know what beer I like.
I've also, belatedly, switched to pay at the pump with a card. It's much faster than queuing. Having said that the self-service tills at supermarkets are starting to become unpopular because they are, often, unreliable and require a shop employee to clear your purchase. I always smile when it requires a shop employee to give me clearance to buy zero alcohol beer!! One day, I shall ask about that.
Oh, our supermarket chains and hardware and garden centers all have "loyalty cards" too, giving discounts and cheap gas, BUT you can pay with cash and just punch your phone number in to get the "loyalty points".
I don't use self checkouts anywhere. All the stores maintain checkout lines with humans. On the self-service lines, the store has to have someone there to help people or check ID, plus people are cheating by not scanning stuff and then doing a runner. They'll probably do away with them like they did metric highway signs ....
Lannis I don't take health advice from people who think the world is overpopulated.