There is no trust in the electronic passport – Economics – Kommersant

The proportion of opponents of the introduction of electronic documents in the Russian Federation is growing, follows from survey data and the research center of the SuperJob portal. So, if in 2019 28% of respondents believed that the digitalization of personal documents is not needed, then in 2023 their share increased to 40%. Agree to the electronic format while maintaining the use of paper analogues 38% of respondents, and only 11 are ready to completely abandon them in favor of digital. The trend raises the question of the ethical and social aspects of digital solutions, including the trust of citizens in the state. According to experts, the discussion of the ethical and social effects of digitalization of various aspects of public life is not active enough.

The survey by the SuperJob research center (1.6 thousand people of the economically active population from all districts of the Russian Federation) was conducted on March 3-6, 2023 – after Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with the government in February, announced his support for the proposal of the Ministry of Digital Development to conduct an experiment with digital smartphone ID.

Only 27% of respondents would like to have a document on their phone that could replace a passport in a number of situations (at the same time, there are no plans to cancel a paper document), more than half (58%) refused this, 15% found it difficult to answer.

“Respondents most often argue their position with data security considerations,” the study notes.

As reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the end of 2021, electronic passports in the form of a smart card with an electronic storage medium and an application with a QR code planned to issue as early as January 2023. The pilot regions were to be Moscow, the Moscow Region and Tatarstan.

However, last June Maksut Shadayev, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, said that the ministry had temporarily postponed the issue of issuing such passports, as there were “more pressing problems.” The authorities, we note, have already recognized problems with the technical support for the digitalization of personal documents – due to a shortage of chips for passports (see “Kommersant” of February 2).

The attitude of Russians to the introduction of electronic documents is gradually deteriorating. 40% are against (in 2019 – 28%, in 2021 – 29%, in 2022 – 37%), 38% – “for” while using paper counterparts, 11% – ready for all convert documents into electronic format and refuse paper versions. Such dynamics of attitudes towards the transition to electronic documents raises the question of the reasons for the negative attitude of citizens to digital technologies and the intentions of the authorities to change this situation, however, the Ministry of Digital Development refuses to comment.

In the analytical report “Ethics and Digital: From Problems to Solutions” by the Center for Training Leaders and Digital Transformation Teams of the GSSU RANEPA, published in 2021, experts considered the ethical problems and social aspects of digitalization, noting that “ethics is directly related to trust, and trust – with the success of the country in the long term.

The use of digital technologies for restrictions and surveillance, the introduction of digital solutions “just in case” causes harm, entails financial losses, creates fear, the authors of the report pointed out, and the growth of distrust in the state can lead to increased resistance to digital solutions.

The reasons for the loss of trust are the leakage of citizens’ data from state information systems and the insufficient level of information security.

Citizens also do not like unreasonably long periods of data storage after the purpose of their collection is achieved, as well as the use of technologies for unfair, in the opinion of people, actions (for example, automatic issuance of fines); failures and errors in the provision of digital services.

It should be noted that at present the level of political trust is low throughout the world. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer 2022, on average 52% of respondents in the world trusted the authorities in 2021 (in the Russian Federation – only 37%; no survey was conducted in the country in 2022). “If an IS or a service that is designed by government agencies does not take into account the convenience of citizens, then … there is distrust in the state and the system,” experts say.

At the same time, the pandemic exacerbated the problem of public confidence in government initiatives, which often did not take into account the will of citizens. Experts also noted that the practice of a wide discussion of the ethical problems of technology is not yet widespread in the Russian Federation. “Communication with citizens in a rapidly digitalizing reality cannot be limited to declarations (“give biometrics – get a digital passport”). If representatives of the authorities do not explain how citizens will be guaranteed rights and freedoms when digital solutions appear, rejection will increase,” experts emphasize.

Venera Petrova