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In the shadow of the nearby United Nations, I approached the Estonian consulate this week ready to complete what's been an eight-month journey. I waited this entire time to visit the 6th floor, finalize some paperwork, and leave with a shiny blue box no bigger than a standard envelope. Soon after, it was official.
I was finally an Estonian e-resident, one of the first 10,000 worldwide.
This Northern European country, formerly occupied by the Soviet Union, has become a tech powerhouse in recent years. Its burgeoning startup scene is highlighted by Skype, Estonian citizens have their own digital ID cards (which power the country's online voting system), and the country is the home of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. And a few months back in California, I heard Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas explain his homeland's latest ambition—e-residency cards that could extend some Estonian government services to non-residents like me.
"We have digital identity and digital signing that is equal by law for each and every Estonian citizen and each and every person that lives in Estonia," Rõivas said during a December 2014 event at Stanford University. "If you have a signature that is on your ID card, and you put it to your smart card reader combined with your PIN, and this is legally binding, and this is equal to your handwritten signature, you can do anything with that. We have used this for 10 years now, and we do believe that there are many things we can do."
Any Estonian e-residents care to comment on why this is worth doing?
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday August 24 2015, @03:09PM
Its like container ships that have a random country's flag on them for tax or whatever purposes. People can just claim whatever country they want, but it doesnt make any difference. Unless that country across the world can give you police, roads, and utilities; what good does any of this do?
That being said, I like the idea of using digital signatures for this. I would like to think it can cut down on identity theft, but I am not a security researcher.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday August 24 2015, @03:39PM
Unless that country across the world can give you police, roads, and utilities; what good does any of this do?
They'll give you a business license and visa at the drop of a hat. The OP article is weird, I mean that was kind of the point of the whole program.
Consider it kind of pre-approval to move over there and get your work permit and start hiring locals for your new i- e- social- catfood delivery over the internet startup company. I'm told its like a mortgage pre-approval for buying a house... not a legal guarantee they absolutely will fund your transaction, but its probably 99% or higher certain that they will.
They smeared a layer of tech on top which is interesting and got them press, also it's pretty easy to shadow the users as social media startups are kind of observable compared to migrant farm workers, so they were a nice population to test upon. Probably migrant farm workers will have interesting digital crypto ids someday, just starting with internet entrepreneurs.
Most countries will let anyone with cash in. Including our own. Period. Also most will let you jump thru hoops if you will be an entrepreneur. This is their weird idea of a hoop to jump thru.
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday August 24 2015, @04:08PM
Yeah, the thing that confused me the most is that the article writer seemed just as confused as I am. (kind of a feedback loop of confusion) He seemed to be reviewing the tech aspect only, which really is the least interesting aspect of the whole thing.
Thanks for clearing this up.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 3, Funny) by LoRdTAW on Monday August 24 2015, @05:20PM
Easy access to Metsatöll [wikipedia.org] shows?
(Score: 2) by etherscythe on Monday August 24 2015, @06:04PM
Ooh, not heard of them. Thanks for the reference! I'll have to check 'em out
"Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday August 24 2015, @08:14PM
If you like Folk Metal, they should be on your list. I saw them last year with Tyr and Ensiferum. Very good live, or at least the NYC show was fantastic.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @08:29PM
Placing all their trust in technology is not very comforting. What happens when their systems get hacked ? At an individual level, dealing with identity theft is nightmarish. Imagine this happening to an entire country. All Estonian citizens will have to deal with identity theft and a host of other issues. Seems apt for what-could-possibly-wrong scenario.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 24 2015, @08:57PM
It's not like a NATO/EU member sitting in the lap of a benevolent, free country like Russia would ever have any worries about identity theft or hacking.