- From: Melvin Carvalho <melvincarvalho@gmail.com>
- Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2015 14:55:34 +0200
- To: public-webid <public-webid@w3.org>, public-rww <public-rww@w3.org>
- Message-ID: <CAKaEYh+fjdqUXY6MubpZiHtgNFQSzK7bLcQQmakugM_Zzm9DGw@mail.gmail.com>
Some developer resources: e-Residency can be easily integrated into your desktop web application in a few hours. It uses client-side SSL certificates that have been a cryptographic standard for nearly 20 years. https://e-estonia.com/e-residents/for-developers/ https://github.com/open-eid/hwcrypto.js https://e-estonia.com/e-residents/for-developers/ *<?php* *// Get variables* $certificate = getenv(“SSL_CLIENT_S_DN”); $status = getenv(“SSL_CLIENT_VERIFY”); *// Check for success* if($status != “SUCCESS” || substr($certificate, 0, 33) != “/C=EE/O=ESTEID/OU=authentication/”) exit(); $id = explode(“/”, $certificate, 8); *// Print results* echo “First name: ” . explode(“=”, $id[5], 2)[1] . “\n”; echo “Last name: ” . explode(“=”, $id[6], 2)[1] . “\n”; echo “ID code: ” . explode(“=”, $id[7], 2)[1] . “\n”; *?>* On 11 June 2015 at 22:26, Melvin Carvalho <melvincarvalho@gmail.com> wrote: > My life under Estonia's digital government Analyst Charles Brett is a fan > 2 Jun 2015 > > There is much government talk about the economic importance of enabling a > digital society. Yet little coherent in the UK seems to materialise – bits > here and there imperfectly integrated and with insufficient commitment. > Just think of the multiple UK initiatives over the years. That such slow > progress is a given calls into question whether a digital society is beyond > deliverable? > > The example of Estonia, offers a startling contrast (and one different > from that of the European Commission <http://bit.ly/1EjJ4Fq> as > summarised by *The Reg* earlier this year). Before going into how Estonia > delivers, consider my own experience in Tallinn when obtaining an > e-Resident card. > > That Estonia introduced the concept of an e-Resident > <http://bit.ly/1O7nQoV> was previously described in *The Register* in > October 2014 where it was also pointed out that anyone wanting to be an > e-Resident had to visit Estonia twice - once to apply and then a second > time to return to pick up your e-Resident card if granted. > Tallin-bound > > In the Autumn of 2014 my wife was posted to Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, > for six months. One of the delights of being a technology analyst is you > can you work anywhere there is good internet access. Estonia has excellent > internet coverage plus 4G available throughout the country (even in rural > areas – a matter or government policy). In addition, ‘being ‘local’ means > you can explore the digital business scene. > > So, armed with my identification documents, I went to a designated > e-Resident office, having previously made an appointment online (of > course). Although I brought passport-sized photos I was directed to a > standard-seeming photo-booth which took my picture. Then I met a courteous > Estonian officer who swiftly took my details and bio-identifiers while also > linking to my electronic pictures from the photo-booth. I was told I would > receive an email in two weeks if my application was not refused. > > Thirteen days later the promised email arrived. I returned to the same > office to sign for a package that included my e-Resident card and a neat, > and super-small USB e-Resident card reader. Nothing in the process could > have been simpler or more easily delivered (and from 1 April 2015 it has > been possible to achieve the same at selected Estonian embassies.) > > With an e-Resident card you can set up a business remotely operating from > Estonia. As an e-Resident you can do everything legally required for a > business by electronic means from afar, including setting up a company, > signing contracts, opening bank accounts, making and receiving payments and > paying all taxes. > > Estonia’s e-revolution has already reached far and deep > > As *The Register* wrote back in October, “holding the card does “not > entail full legal residency or citizenship or right of entry to Estonia” > (but) it does allow “secure access to Estonia’s digital services and an > opportunity to give digital signatures in an electronic environment. ... > Such digital identification and signing is legally fully equal to > face-to-face identification and handwritten signatures in the European > Union.” > > So, how did Estonia achieve all this? It was not a short process. Yet > Estonia’s e-revolution has already reached far and deep, bringing together > citizens, government and business. Second, integration has been combined > with security and appropriate data ownership. Third, Estonia took its time > in establishing what is now a credible e-society - some 15 years after it > originally started back in 2001 (yes, that long ago). Today’s Estonian > citizen can (though he or she does not have to): > > - Identify themselves, via e-ID, an electronic identity system > - Vote (iVote, available since 2007) > - Complete tax returns (and make payments or receive refunds) > - Obtain and fulfil prescriptions (eHealth) > - Participate in census completion > - Review accumulated pension contributions and values > - Perform banking, including making and receiving payments > - Pay and interact with utilities (like water, gas and electricity) > - Interact with the education system (e-Education) > - Set up businesses > - Sign contracts > - And more. > > The above embrace a broad swathe of the economic and personal activities > and applies as much to government and business as to the individual. As > such the Estonian e-society provides facilities to all stakeholders in the > country, and with some interesting side effects. > > For example, digitising the police now enables a police officer in a > patrol car to verify a car’s legality and insurance by querying the car > registration system. If this shows the owner is a driver who has been > convicted of a drink-driving offence within the past two years the police > officer can stop and breathalyse that driver. Convicted drunk-drivers know > this; unsurprisingly repeat drink-driving re-offences have fallen. > Conversely, electronic voting is less popular because Estonians value their > new found freedom to choose and many dress up in order to go to their > polling station. > > All of the above depend on the acceptance of some fundamentals (an aspect > which successive UK governments have shown little appetite to address). > These were agreed right from the inception of the Estonian e-Society > initiative and specifically included: > A matter of principles > > *1.* decentralisation combined with interconnectivity: there is no > central database; every stakeholder (government department, business or > even individual) has the freedom to choose its own system in its own time > with the guiding principle being that all participating systems be able to > work together > > *2.* adoption of a secure open platform approach; the intention is any > institution (or individual) be able to use a publicly provided public key > infrastructure > > *3.* a commitment to an open-ended process; capabilities are encouraged > to evolve, grow and improve organically > > 4. investment in a long term commitment to a suitable infrastructure, > particularly provision of two vital ingredients – a common middleware stack > (‘X-Road’ ) and a secure e-Identity (or e-ID). > > Arguably the first three above are about principles. These are easy to > pronounce on but not necessarily easy to adopt or deliver. What marks out > Estonia so far is the way it has honoured its ongoing commitment to these > principles over more than a decade. > Follow the X-Road > > Furthermore, acceptance is accelerating because, with time, the > incremental cost of adding a function or service reduces once a trusted > infrastructure is in place. Adding the online national census capability > cost only the census software, less than €10K, because the infrastructure > was already in place. The creation of the e-Resident initiative was a > logical, and practical extension, of what was already possible for Estonian > citizens. > > The fourth is about practicality. As the slide below shows, the X-Road is > the mechanism which connects all the decentralized components together. > This is what enables Estonia’s various databases and registers, whether > public or private, to link up and operate irrespective of what individual > platform they use. In this the ‘adapter server’ is the key integration > element which enable different applications to work together. > [image: Screenshot showing estonia digital goverment organisation chart] > > Similarly, e-ID is the nationally standardized system for verifying each > individual’s identity to the online environment (the ‘security server’ in > Figure 1). This opens the door to provision of e-services which offer > security and trust (the basis for the e-Resident card), and Estonia has > gone further than most in four additional dimensions: > > - it has introduced differentiation between roles associated with an > e-ID; a civil servant, for example, can act as an individual or can act as > his or her job demands, with quite different rights, accesses and > privileges associated with his or her job > - digital privacy is enshrined in law (Estonians argue their country > has the strongest legislative protections, accompanied by stiff penalties > for digital infractions or abuse) > - the adoption of specific extending legislation where needed, for > example for medical records; these are owned by the individual who > authorizes doctors to use his or her patient’s medical records (using the > e-ID to authenticate and record this authorization) > - citizens have rights to access and inspect data held about them; > transparency breeds trust, over time. > > Estonia has not stopped at this. To provide demonstrable accuracy it > exploits blockchain technology (though not that from Bitcoins) to establish > trust and verification. Data and interactions use a blockchain (from > Guardtime, an Estonian company) to guarantee a record of the state of any > component within the network and data stores. > > The implications of this are immense. It means that any unauthorized > change in the state, which can be regarded as attack on accuracy, can be > detected. Whether this ‘attack’ comes from outside or from (say) an > employee on the inside, record alteration is recorded while the original > remains (or is shown to have been tampered with). > Conclusion > > Estonia proves that a digital society is practical today. Yet, apart from > Finland which is adopting the Estonian technology base, other European > countries including the UK lag behind. If it took Estonia 15 years to reach > where it has today, and with a population of less than 1.5M, how long will > it take the UK, France, Germany or Italy? Will e-Societies ever emerge in > these place in a coherent and meaningful way? Does this mean that large > countries are doomed to fall behind? > > The sad aspect about such conclusion is that a proven technology base to > support an e-Society - X-Road and e-ID- exists. Yet recognition of what > Estonia delivers is ignored by those, especially fellow partners in the EU > who seem to think they will provide better - at some unpredictable point in > the future. > > Estonia shows us that a digital society is practical today. We, as > citizens, should demand the same vision, coordination, commitment, > inclusivity and consideration of the needs and practicalities of all > stakeholders. > > Instead we have politicians posing about the importance of digital > societies in order to get re-elected, and global multi-nationals exploiting > our personal data for their benefit. > > We need not wait interminably for an e-Society. But, outside Estonia and > Finland, it looks as if we will. And any e-Society must be underpinned by > commonly accepted principles, as well as practical technologies, which > recognise the rights of all participants. ® > > http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/02/estonia/ > > Some more links: > > https://e-estonia.com/e-residents/about/ > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_ID_card > http://estonia.eu/news/563--estonias-e-residency-goes-global.html > >
Received on Friday, 12 June 2015 12:56:06 UTC