Discussion in the European Parliament about IT security and efficiency of eGovernment [24.03.2014]

A project conducted on behalf of the European Parliament on the “Security of eGovernment” addressed whether data, for example from medical applications, procurement or border identification procedures, are handled in a secure and efficient way. Background to the project are the manifold activities by the European Commission and the Member States to implement eGovernment, typically web-based, sometimes using smartcards.

The project report showed (1) that there is no comprehensive strategy for securing eGovernment against advanced threats, (2) that citizens' privacy could be better protected, and (3) that the possibilities of ICT are often overestimated by policy makers. The study was conducted between 2011 and 2013 on behalf of the Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel (STOA) by the Danish Board of Technology, the Dutch Rathenau Institute and ITAS.

Concrete measures discussed in a project workshop comprise, among others, the proven isolation of sensitive data (which is already available to the US armed forces) as a means of protection against attacks. Another measure would be the application of "Privacy by Design" principles. Anonymous credentials would, e.g. only reveal "nationality Dutch", instead of a full name. Last but not least, efficiency could be improved by investigating system variants early and by checking for the achievement of objectives during implementation and even after system roll-out.

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