From Robin Westenra @ substack
Government launches ‘one-stop shop’ app
The minister in charge of a new government app promises it will be “more secure than almost anything else you could think about”.
Minister for Digitising Government Judith Collins has launched the Govt.nz app this week after several years of development.
“It’s to enable people, say if there’s a life event, a baby’s born, go into the app and click on ‘we’ve got a new baby’ or something and it will come up with all the things you need to do around registration, services that you might want to be linked to,” Collins explained to Morning Report.
“It basically brings a lot of the government services into one place for people to link through to.”
The Govt.nz app as seen in the Apple app store. Photo: Supplied
In its current form, the app only included some public services.
“[Wednesday’s] launch was the very first iteration of the app, and it’s going to be changing and added to as we move on. Every six-to-eight weeks you’ll see changes,” Collins said.
“The idea is that it will become a one-stop shop for people who want to use it, and that’s the other important message: this is not compulsory, this is entirely voluntary. It’s for people, like, me who love to have apps and want to do all my work on them.”
An anticipated feature to be added to the app next year was digital driver’s licences and other identity credentials.
“[To do that] we need to change the law and we have that law change going through … That’s due to go through parliament in completion of the legislation early next year,” she said.
“We expect to have that digital driver’s licence uploaded third quarter of next year.”
Collins said the app would be backed by the government’s digital security system and be secure against hackers.
“Well they [can] get access now to people’s filing cabinets and everything else. [It’s] more secure than almost anything else you could think about because it’s backed up by the government’s digital security,” she said.
“If you were to go and rent a house … The first thing the real estate agent’s going to say is ‘where are all your identity documents,’ so you end up handing over a copy of your passport, driver’s licence, birth certificate, photo-copied and put into someone’s filing cabinet.”
“You’ve got no control over that and it’s a massive honeypot for someone who is trying to steal identity. This is so much more secure.”
Collins also confirmed that the app had no means of tracking users.
Palantir has operated & had office in Wellington Aotearoa since 2012. Jonkey brought this here and Judith Collins is expanding the deals.
A separate Digital ID for high school kids 13 years+ has been launched in schools throughout the country, ahead of NZ Verify!! Called MyMahi, the D/ID’s digital credential as proof of identity is a Digital Student-School ID. The ID has a CBDC digital wallet attached enabling the kids to use the Social Credit System linked to a digital bank called Emerge, created by a NZ Tech Co (a part of the worldwide Central Bank). MyMahi founder and Emerge CEO said they have so far identified at least 50,000 kids without a bank account, and this can be easily solved, “without the need for parental approval”!! I found a photo of an example of the ID – there’s a “wallet” tab on the top, and I also noticed an “expiry date”. What’s the bet when that happens, and to keep the ID current, the student will have to upload a digital Vaccine ID/Health Pass or similar, or else they will be locked out of their smartphone. Watch all the kids comply!!
School principals are praising this initiative, because MyMahi, they say, is also a highly valuable “educational platform” for students who already has a bank account, as the app is also their School App, linking the kids to all sorts of school info, updates, grades, and activities/events etc!! The goal for MyMahi/Emerge is they want all high school kids to sign up, and be totally ENSLAVED to the system!!
In the photo is MyMahi founder Jeff King and Nats MP Andrew Bayly giving the thumbs up 😒
Teenagers as young as 13 can now open a transaction account remotely using a digital ID, and they don’t even need their parents’ permission.
School tech entrepreneur Jeff King was so frustrated at how many teens did not have bank accounts, and how hard banks made it for them to sign up for one, he embarked on a mission of change.
That took him into the head offices of the banks, and even to Parliament but, having drawn a blank with the big banks, he has signed up digital-only banking provider Emerge to accept the verified MyMahi Digital ID so teens can open accounts remotely.
Photo Credit: pixabay.com
The New York Times
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan police says that officers are told to “use their judgment” when citizens hide their face from recognition cameras.
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