Last week, an airline in the United States became the first company
to allow customers to book directly through its Facebook page. Will
citizens soon be able to transact directly with government on social
media? In interviews with FutureGov, officials in Indonesia, Australia
and Singapore say that despite data security concerns, some government
transactions on Facebook or Twitter will very soon be possible.
Delta Airlines launched a “Ticket Window”
on Facebook that enables travelers to reserve flights directly without
leaving the site. To date, airlines and other businesses have only used
social media for promotional purposes.
Some government entities already use Facebook to allow direct
transactions - although for relatively non-sensitive business. The
National Library Board of Singapore uses the Facebook appliation NLB myLibrary
that can be automatically linked to a patron’s library account. The app
pulls up borrowed books and due dates. However, the app does not allow
books to be renewed or fines paid. “Patrons must go to the official
library web sites and login separately,” a Singaporean
official explained.
However, social networks will soon be able to support more
revenue-based government transactions such as tax or business
registration, thinks Heru Sutadi (pictured), Commissioner of the
Indonesian Regulatory Authority (BRTI). “In
the near future, we will use social media for more than chatting,
status updates and sharing photos,” he said. But a number of issues
need to addressed first, not least data security, he added.
“It will be some time before this is possible,” said Sutadi.
“Besides data security, which is a big concern in Indonesia, our
systems and processes for online transactions would require
re-engineering for social media. For business transactions, such as
paying tax, citizens can send a tax form by email and pay their taxes
online using a government web site, which is highly secure.”
Sutadi pointed out that while the Delta Ticket Window allows users
to search and book flights without leaving the Facebook page, the
information collected is not stored by Facebook, which may allay
security concerns. “Facebook has provided a platform on which Delta
customers can transact with the airline’s web site, but Facebook does
not host passenger data.”
Making Facebook secure enough for government transactions shouldn’t
be too difficult, the Singapore official (who wanted to remain
anonymous) added. “The necessary security is technically possible, and
not too different from embedding credit card approvals into existing
web sites. It’s more a matter of people getting used to it, and
Facebook not accidentally creating backdoors due to poor engineering.”
As with any platform on which citizens do business with government,
the issue boils down to trust, he said. “And once trust is lost, it’s
very difficult to regain.”
Anthony O’Hara is the Chief Information Officer at Australia’s
Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor. Does he think Australians will
soon be able to apply for a gambling or drinks licence on Facebook?
“In the future, I think this type of
scenario will be open for government,” he predicted. “However, I think
examples will be focused upon building communities of interest and
facilitating consultation efforts on topics of community concern. That
in itself will be a big first step for most government agencies.”
“Performing transactions, where some sort
of integration at the data level occurs with any social networking
site, is then a very, very big leap of faith,” he cautioned.
“Government has to set and meet the highest possible standards in
relation to privacy and security concerns. We may, of course, fall
short but we are held accountable.”
Initiating a transaction where authentication was under the control
of the government agency and where there is no reliance on the
operator’s information is a more likely scenario, O’Hara concluded. “In
the end I think it is down to government to facilitate open and trusted
mechanisms that will enable constituents to transact with agencies with
confidence. Identity and authentication are key.”
“Government services might be presented in
the context of a social networking site for a particular member based
upon them opting in to a community. I cannot see these services having
any deep level of integration with the social networking service
per se..”
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