Every British Citizen To Have a Personal Webpage 313
Hugh Pickens writes "The Telegraph reports that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is about to announce that within a year everyone in Great Britain will be given a personalized webpage for accessing Government services as part of a plan to save billions of pounds by putting all public services online. The move could see the closure of job centers and physical offices dealing with tax, vehicle licensing, passports and housing benefits within 10 years as services are offered through a single digital gateway. [This] 'saves time for people and it saves money for the Government — the processing of a piece of paper and mailing it back costs many times more than it costs to process something electronically,' says Tim Berners-Lee, an advisor to the Prime Minister. However, the proposals are coming under fire from union leaders who complain that thousands of public sector workers would be made jobless and pointed to the Government's poor record of handling personal data. 'Cutting public services is not only bad for the public who use services but also the economy as we are pushing people who provide valuable services on the dole,' says one union leader."
firpanopticone? (Score:4, Funny)
What? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:firpanopticone? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:firpanopticone? (Score:5, Funny)
Yepanopticons it is
Re:Surveillance. (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, but on the other hand I'm thinking that this'll bring all the UK populace into the digital database age and people will be asking people for advice and the people with the most powerful memes will be the fuck-you-big-brother-type-geeks and it will lead to a united, informed people. Soon enough they will be lining the streets, chanting "El Pueblo unido jamas sera vencido!" and it will be known in the history books of the next century as the spark of the new enlightenment and actual democracy. Or did I dream it?
Re:A computer for all? (Score:5, Funny)
Actually yes. They already are. If you are on low income you can apply for a grant to buy both a laptop AND internet connection.
Of course, you'll have to visit your personal webpage to apply for this, as the physical offices will be closing.
Re:Surveillance. (Score:5, Funny)
people with the most powerful memes... lining the streets, chanting "El Pueblo unido jamas sera vencido!"
Nah, they'll be chanting "Yo puedo tiene cheezburger"*
*Amazingly, Google Translate understands it perfectly [google.com]
Re:Surveillance. (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, how dare the government track things such as applying for a passport and paying taxes
Re:Oh god (Score:5, Funny)
It's myspace all over again!
No, this is FaceGovernment. Much cooler.
Re:Oh god (Score:3, Funny)
it's even better, the stalking creep psychopath following your posts is your government
Re:We have this in Norway already.. (Score:4, Funny)
Slightly smug? That is so Norwegian of you. I mean, if I were Norwegian, I'd be obnoxiously smug about it, but I guess perhaps that's why I'm not Norwegian. (Full disclosure: German American, ancestors came in 1734. See? Obnoxiously smug. Can't help it.)
Re:Surveillance. (Score:3, Funny)
Once made redundant, bureaucrats could get proper jobs doing something productive, and contribute to the economy instead of feeding off it.
If they could get proper jobs, then why did they become bureaucrats in the first place?
Re:The system... is down... (Score:2, Funny)
Bet that'll be fun when the system goes down for whatever reason. It's enough of a fustercluck when ONE major government system goes on the fritz... here, they'd all go down together!
I'm sure when this goes online, someone will post it on Slashdot ...