“Ask Once” Policy for Digital Government Services
In some countries, paper bureaucracy and thorny online government services are of the past. Digital transformation of traditional businesses, such as car riding apps, food delivery, e-commerce, and the mini computer glued to our hands called the smartphone has transformed human behavior in the past decade. Why shouldn’t the public sector catch up then?
To better understand the thought process of a government’s perspective, let’s examine a federal country like Canada that already has a digital strategy in place[1]. Say it’s considering deploying an “ask once” policy, which means allowing citizens to provide their personal information only once without having to repeatedly do so each time they process government services.
Benefits for both the Citizen and the Government
Canadian policymakers could be tempted to launch the “ask once” policy as it could help in saving costs, offer users a seamless and efficient service, and eliminate the frustration and hassle citizens have with administrative processes[3].
Concerns
The main concern is a risk to individual privacy. There are multifaceted issues to privacy, such as individuals sharing their data with their government, vulnerability of information being exposed to external governments and actors in the attempt of a cyberattack, and privacy of information in general from other citizens.
Policy criteria
To examine the pros and cons of the “ask once” policy, one has to look at certain criteria:
- Economic efficiency: Trade-offs are achieved at least cost and the technology would make citizens better off and no one worse off.
- Political feasibility: The technology is regarded as legitimate, consistent with the country’s regulatory framework and supported by all political parties.
- Security: The technology provides a secure alternative to citizens without exposing them to risks in the future.
- Flexibility: The policy will continue to be relevant in the future with changing technology, prices, and potential adjustments.
What are the options on the table?
- Universal access where data is used across all the sectors
2. A program approach where the one-time-only policy is implemented in selected government services
3. Allow data sharing with individual’s consent and right to be forgotten
Final recommendations…
An Ask Once Policy is encouraged only when a privacy regulatory framework is in place. Moreover, the rule of law in a country like Canada makes for a strong foundation to enforce privacy.
There are different solutions to get around the privacy concern that the government can reconcile. Allowing for consent and right to withdraw could bring more harm and good where citizens with criminal records, for instance, could avoid disclosure. The government can also seek secure ways to maintain privacy by choosing mechanisms in data sharing and storage agreed upon by the public.
Universal access would ensure faster and better delivery of service for citizens without having to deal with different standards across administrative departments. Furthermore, Canadian citizens are considered digitally capable which meets an important prerequisite for this kind of strategy.
The government would meet its potential if it were to integrate all services rather than selected services in the program approach. The latter would potentially offer an inconsistent and less harmonized experience.
[1] https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/industries/government-and-public-services/digital-government.html
[2] https://www.innovations.harvard.edu/blog/estonia-one-small-country-digital-government-having-big-impact-x-road
[3] Krimmer, Robert & Kalvet, Tarmo & Olesk, Maarja & Cepilovs, Aleksandrs & Tambouris, Efthimios. (2017). Exploring and Demonstrating the Once-Only Principle: A European Perspective. 546–551.
