noun: identity crisis; plural noun: identity crises
"a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person's sense of identity becomes insecure, typically due to a change in their expected aims or role in society"
I logged into my bank to pay some bills. I do this from my computer, which allows me three alternative ways to log in. Normally I use a special bank card that I put into a card-reading thingy that I connect to my laptop by a cord. I also have a smaller cordless bank thingy that I'm not sure how it works, but somehow codes get sent back and forth by pushing the right buttons, and if I do it right, that works too. (I haven't been using the little fiddly thingy much lately though, as I find the card-thingy easier to handle.)The third alternative is Mobile Bank ID, which involves an app on my smartphone, and scanning of QR codes. The Mobile Bank ID is nowadays also used to access an increasing amount of other apps and websites where one needs to prove that one is who one claims to be. (I'm still a bit sceptical of the general idea of using my phone for Absolutely Everything, though, so have so far avoided using bank apps on the phone.)
Anyway. A week or so ago I received a message from my bank "reminding" me (I had no idea!!) that my current Mobile Bank ID will expire in a few weeks. However, the message also said I could renew it by logging into my bank. They made that sound easy, so I thought I'd just do that today in connection with paying my bills...
Of course I should know by now that there's no "just" about these kinds of things - but sometimes I still let optimism take over...
It did seem simple enough to start with - until I was suddenly asked to now prove my identity by taking a photo (via an app) of a valid physical ID. And then learned that in this particular context, my driving licence, which in the Real World has served me as allround ID for around 50 years by now (renewed without much ado every 10 years), no longer counts as valid ID in this particular context. To prove my identity to the new Mobile Bank ID, I now need either a physical Passport or a physical National ID card (valid within the EU). And as I haven't travelled abroad for a very long time, and for all other purposes so far have got along fine with my driving license, I don't have either of those...
So I had no alternative but to interrupt my application for the new Bank ID by clicking on the alternative "I don't have the right ID" ...
For a while I feared that this might leave me without any identity at all within in digital world... But luckily it seems that the system reverted to letting the old bank ID tick on until the automatic expiration date. (Phew.)
So I hurried on in search of What To Do and Where To Go; and managed to book an appointment at our police station next week - to be photographed and fingerprinted and whatever else it takes to get the required National ID...
To my relief, it seems that the physical police will still accept my driving license to prove that I Am Who I Am. (Because if not, it seems the only alternative would be to ask my brother to drive down here to confirm it in person. And I'm not actually sure if he has any ID besides his driving license to prove his identity either...)
The whole circus now makes me think I should probably also make sure to both renew my driving license next year (in spite of doubting that I'll ever actually take up driving again), and get a passport as well (even if I have no travel plans). On second thought, probably better to wait a year or two with the passport, though - or else the ID card and the passport will keep expiring at the same time...
I'm not going to ask everyone to describe your own country's ID systems in detail - but I do feel curious to know if you too are feeling the increased pressure/requirement to use your phone for Everything... As much as I love my smartphone, for the most part I still mostly use it as a combination of camera, audio book player, handy encyclopedia, and to receive text message notifications. For other online things, I usually prefer either my laptop or my tablet... But these days, it seems the goal is a separate App for "every purpose under heaven" * (but one Bank ID to join them all)...
* "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..."
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)
I don't feel the pressure YET to use my 'phone for everything and am resisting it. I have just renewed my driving license, with my photo from donkey's years ago on it, but have no passport and no intention of acquiring another one. It seems to be becoming too much of a Brave New World, I think.
ReplyDelete'Resistance' is getting harder and harder here, as in so many contexts now one is assumed not only to have a smartphone, but also to keep up to date with all the latest apps and updates and possibilities, and knowing how to use them...
DeleteI never actually read A Brave New World. You just made me look it up, which made me feel like I ought to have read it, so I downloaded it to my Kindle. (It only cost me a dollar.) Whether I'll ever read it, remains to be seen...
We have the National ID thing and they have forced us to get one, our drivers license is now our National ID but only after we jump through hoops of valid birth certificates and would not accept bob's certivicate he had used for 80 years, we had to ordered one from his birth county. all I did was go online and order it mailed to us. when I went to get mine I had the birth certificate but they wanted our marriage certificate which showed when my name changed to his, and when they saw that, the said I had to have divorce papers from the last change which I did not have with me. she said where were you divorced, I said down town at the courthouse. she said I can get that for you in the computer... now each time we get drivers license renewed it needs no prove. unless we move to another state. Bob is 89 and has had his license since he was 16, for Pete's sake. they are out of control..
ReplyDeleteSandra, sometimes rules and regulations supposed to protect us seem to just ensnare us instead... With no loopholes for "common sense"!
DeleteIt really does feel as though modern identity is being squeezed into our phones, and while convenient, it’s unsettling how apps, codes and expiring digital identities now seem to define who we are.
ReplyDeleteRo, somehow it all just seems to keep escalating! And while having almost "everything" available on one's phone is no doubt convenient for many (I imagine especially for those travelling a lot), at the same time I can't help thinking that it also makes us vulnerable.
DeleteI am in agreement. We have a special kind of drivers license which I haven’t bothered to get yet, which is for ID for flying anywhere now. I need to get that done, just am dragging my heels. No banking on my phone, nor all the different health providers’ apps, it’s still got 3 screens worth of icons of this that and the other. I do pay all my bills each month on line…like writing checks but filling out payments on the laptop. I hate when they only have options to automatically pay things monthly…I don’t have a good way to keep track of the balances that way. I need control. Geese, it’s my money!
ReplyDeleteBarbara, I have so many "automatic" payments now that I recently felt need to write a list of them, which I put in my physical A4 binder for bills and such. At the moment I have at least six automatically drawn directly from my bank account, three drawn via my debit card, and three that get sent electronically to my bank but that I have to log in and approve there before they are paid. And then still a few sent by letter, but postage is getting so high now that I suspect most of those too will probably soon go to some kind of auto-payment instead. I appreciate the auto payment for rent, electricity and cellphone (knowing those will work even if for example I'd have to go into hospital or whatever) - but as for most of the rest, it does tend to get a bit confusing... What I do to keep track is that I log in to the bank a few days into each new month to check what payments were made the previous month.
DeleteI think in this day and age they are probably trying to increase security seeing as there have been so many data hacks and breaches but sounds like they are making it far worse and more complicated.
ReplyDeleteAmy, yes, I think that probably sums it up pretty well...
DeleteBefore my husband died I was very dismissive of online banking , and let him take responsibility for that . In the last ( almost ) three years since his death , I have found online banking really helpful and not as scary as I thought . I have run into difficulties a couple of times , but two local
ReplyDeletebank branches ( now closed ) we’re very helpful . Not everyone has , wants or can afford the phones etc you need for an online existence , so it does not seem a fair system to me
Siobhan
Siobhan, I know one or two people of my own age who have neither smartphone nor computer. How they still manage without it is a mystery to me. Most banks here can no longer be visited without a pre-booked appointment - and don't handle cash! And ATMs are getting sparse and harder to find as well. I suppose it must still be possible to handle payments like I used to do in the past - by filling in a payment order form on paper and send that by post. I've been using online banking at least since 2010, though.
DeleteWhat I have discovered more and more is that authorities, businesses and even health services blandly assume that everybody possesses a smartphone. Those of us who have never owned smartphones find ourselves being sidelined and discriminated against in various different ways. I feel the pressure building to acquire a smartphone myself and I bitterly resent that.
ReplyDeleteYP, my first mobile phone was a 'dumb' one (for phone calls and short text messages only), bought in 2006 when I had to spend some time in hospital. In 2011 I was inspired by my brother to get my first smartphone. (He was always an 'IT guy' both privately and professionally - now retired.) That was still early days for smartphones, so I had to upgrade to a later model already in 2014. But that one I had for 9 years before it became necessary to buy a new one again (=my present one). So I have been using smartphones *almost* since they first came on the market. But I still agree with you in that I'm not happy about the increasing pressure from authorities and businesses making it feel more or less necessary (and expected!) now both to own one, and to be able to use it for more and more advanced stuff.
DeleteEverything is being pushed onto our mobile phones and I do feel sorry for those who can't or don't want one. I like to think I'm a tech bloke and have had a smartphone since 2005 (Nokia 6680) so the move doesn't phase me too much. I cant remember the last time I had to proved my id. I only have a driving licence which is one of the only two photo ids widely accepted.
ReplyDeleteCK, not all that "tech" myself I'm not sure I ever even heard of other smartphones preceding iPhones and Android... ;) (All mine have been Android.)
DeleteHere in Germany, we mostly still have options that do not involve a smartphone, but having one (and knowing how to use it) is usually an advantage. Our clumsily slow administrations - both regional and national ones - are trying to digitalise their procedures more and more, which is a good thing in theory. In practise, though, it's a different story: Often, staff is not properly trained and can't help you, or the app itself is not secure and safe in terms of data protection and information security. It is of course something widely (and wildly!) discussed in my professional environment.
ReplyDeleteMeike, that all sounds all too familiar. In my health care region, in Nov 2024, they tried to introduce a new medical record system - supposed to make it easier to for example share medical records between different institutions. But everything immediately collapsed, all categories of staff made massive protests and declared the system totally useless and rightout dangerous for patient safety. The introduction was stopped after three days and they reverted to the old system. (By then, staff had seen it necessary to go back to keeping handwritten notes...) A year later, it was decided to not even try to reintroduce that particular system again (not in our region at least), but start over to look into other alternatives. The whole project so far has just cost incredible sums of money without bringing about anything useful at all...
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