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EU Exploring Idea of Using Government ID Cards As Mandatory Online Logins (softpedia.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the no-choice-but-to-comply dept.

An anonymous reader writes from a report via Softpedia: Fears that fake online reviews might ruin the consumer market and damage legitimate businesses are making the European Commission consider the idea of forcing all EU citizens to log into online accounts using their government-issued ID cards. Details about these plans can be found in a proposal named "Online Platforms and the Digital Single Market Opportunities and Challenges," announced on May 25, 2016. According to this document, "online platforms should accept credentials issued or recognized by national public authorities, such as electronic or mobile IDs, national identity cards, or bank cards." The reasoning, according to the EU, is that "online ratings and reviews of goods and services are helpful and empowering to consumers, but they need to be trustworthy and free from any bias or manipulation. A prominent example is fake reviews."

3 of 367 comments (clear)

  1. Death to anonyminity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    While I think that, since we're all carrying chip & pin cards, that they should be useable as login credentials, they should not, in any way, be mandatory.

    1. Re:Death to anonyminity by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

      While I think that, since we're all carrying chip & pin cards, that they should be useable as login credentials,

      I don't see how that solves anything. My daughter makes money writing fake reviews, and she uses her real name. At most, an identity check will prevent someone from posting more than one review about the same product, but with millions of products and millions of reviewers, that is not much of a limitation.

  2. Re:Brexit by johannesg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Someone somewhere in the path between slashdot and the EU commission must have some reading comprehension problems. Or maybe it's misrepresented on purpose.

    Or maybe we have seen how the worst government excesses are always presented like this, and are naturally mistrusting about anything that whiffs of destroying a vital part of our freedom.

    "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." (Juncker)

    "If it's a Yes, we will say 'on we go', and if it's a No we will say 'we continue’,” (Juncker)

    “Of course there will be transfers of sovereignty. But would I be intelligent to draw the attention of public opinion to this fact?,” (Juncker)

    "I'm ready to be insulted as being insufficiently democratic, but I want to be serious ... I am for secret, dark debates" (Juncker)

    "When it becomes serious, you have to lie." (Juncker)

    Are you trying to say you trust this guy?