With the advent of the information era, computers have infiltrated every section of society. In addition to the convenience of sitting on your seat while buying anything from anywhere, computers have enabled things that have never been done before. As always, governments are trying to jump on this bandwagon and appease their target audience.
It isn’t just businesses that are using “Social Media” and “Web 2.0” to promote their messages. In all the latest elections, politicians are also using BBM and Facebook to get their word across. Governments are also becoming increasingly tech-savvy. “The utilization of the Internet and the world-wide-web for delivering government information and services to the citizens” is the United Nations’ definition of e-Governance. E-Governance also includes a large amount of related items such as the use of cellular transmissions for disaster management and biometric profiling. These days, the use of electronic filing of forms has made so many of our lives easier. I can now file my taxes from anywhere, on my computer. Furthermore, maintenance of records is so much easier with the use of database management software. Many countries use e-voting machines to elect their ruling governments. This has saved many thousands of man-hours spent counting the ballots.
Furthermore, almost every card issued by the government (licenses, IDs, etc.) now contains magnetic strips with information about the holder. This has made it so much easier for the authorities to keep track of misdemeanours. Use of biometrics by immigration authorities ensures the integrity and internal security of countries. Many countries issue passports with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) embedded chips, allowing contactless emigration formalities. Even in third-world countries like India, e-Governance is prevalent. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme run by the Human Resources ministry uses biometric scanners attached to cellular telephones to automatically dispense money to daily wage workers for their effort, thus allowing proper accounting and preventing fraud. The Indian government has now undertaken a project to issue a Unique Identification Card (UID) to every single citizen of the country (yep, 1.24 billion people).
The downside to the introduction of e-Governance is the invasion of privacy. Have you ever waited in line at a club and had your ID scanned by the bouncers? One can only wonder what kind of information they have about you. This most definitely unnerves me to the extent that I’d much rather lead the life of a hermit. Identity theft is a direct consequence of the introduction of e-Governance. Imagine what would happen if the wrong people got a hold of your Social Insurance Number. With India trying to link all government-issued ID to the same card, there is great potential for damage. There have been numerous instances of e-voting machines being hacked and the number of votes manipulated. This leads to a lot of uncomfortable questions. As demonstrated by an outfit called “LULZ Security,” even the most “secure” servers can be manipulated by the truly skilled. There is potential for ghost warfare when one body gains control over the others’ IT infrastructure and wreaks havoc.
Thus, there is a necessity to be extremely wary while modernizing governing infrastructure. While the introduction of Information Technology enables more efficient governance, the cost to the citizen must be of prime importance.
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