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Over the past few decades, what used to require tedious sleuthing has become automated, and users have become to freely give their information away. Nowadays, nobody reads the terms and conditions, we just want to start using the app/social media platform as soon as possible. 

What’s wrong with this approach? 

A lot of people are complaining that “my phone might be listening to me, otherwise, why do I see ads on my IG about a product that I discussed with a friend of mine the other day?”. This is all happening to the fact that all social media platforms have access to your personal data, where you go, what you google, who you meet. This sounds scary, and the scariest part is that even if you delete your account in any of the social media or apps that you used before, there is no chance that your data will be erased as well – it will stay out there. 

If nothing can be done with your data that is already “out there”, how can you protect yourself in the future?

One of the solutions that will help to facilitate the privacy of your data is Virtual Private Network (VPN). VPN gives you an opportunity to establish a protected network connection when using public networks. VPNs encrypt your internet traffic in real time and disguise your online identity, which makes it more difficult for third parties to track your activities online and steal data. Therefore, VPN hides your IP address by letting the network redirect it through a specially configured remote server run by a VPN host. In this way, when you surf online with a VPN, the VPN server becomes the source of your data.

Pros and Cons

As any other digital tool VPN has its benefits and flaws. The main advantages are increased levels of privacy and security, no ISP bandwidth throttling, and access to the geo-blocked content. On the other hand, disadvantages include slower internet and shared IPs that can be blacklisted because they overload the DNS. 

Overall, VPN can be a very powerful tool in your own data protection and in our age when everything is shared it has become a necessity rather than an accessory. 

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How many of you did encounter the problem of holding all your documents in your pocket at once “just in case”? How many of you feared losing those? And how many of you had enough bureaucracy associated with public services? I would assume that the majority of readers indeed experienced one of the above.

In 2020 Ukraine made an attempt to make lives of thousands of it citizens easier and launched an app Diia that incorporates more than 70 key government services available digitally.

So, how it works?

Diia allows Ukrainians to store and access nine type of legal documents (ID card, foreign biometric passport, driver’s license, student card, vehicle registration certificate, vehicle insurance policy, tax number, birth certificate, and IDP certificate) while also being able to make use of public services such as registering a business or requesting a birth certificate of the newborn. For instance, you can register your company within 10 to 15 minutes just by clicking through the app.

In addition, Diia provides an extra layer of security even in comparison to physical documents. Whenever there is a digital signature requested, the app does not trust neither the government cloud nor the user’s personal mobile device, thus, it splits the signature in two by sending one part to the cloud and another one to the citizen’s device. Only once the identity of the user is confirmed the app brings two parts together. Moreover, even when documents are called for, they are not stored in the app. The relevant information is requested from the government registry, and proof provided as needed. But whether it’s a signature or codes, be they QR codes, bar codes, or number keys for financial services, they are designed so that they are refreshed every three minutes, making it next to impossible for someone to copy them by photo or other duplication.

Finally, Diia made Ukraine the first country in the world where digital documents are legally equivalent to the physical ones.

What’s in there for the government?

Diia triggers the reduction of bureaucracy associated with public services and increases government’s savings. It reduces a need for having a big amount of people employed in the government sector, which results in hundreds of millions of savings for the government budget. For example, in the first year of the app functioning Ukraine decreased the number of government employees by 10%. Furthermore, the app increases transparency of public services and decreases corruption.

In addition, the app contributes to overall digitalisation of the country as more and more people are becoming digitally-educated and the usage of digital services becomes a part of their daily routine.

Future

The app has already gained some popularity within some of the EU countries and continues to do so. For example, Estonia is going to be the first one to launch its own “Diia” based on its Ukrainian parent-app. Ukrainian developers will work closely with Estonian Ministry of Digital Affairs to develop an Estonian version of the application.

So, is the future of e-government services indeed just around the corner and will we be able to see more and more countries worldwide adopting Diia in the nearest future?