Not everything needs to be an app
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After the announcement and funding from the Nova Scotia government for the new "Power of Attorney" mobile app. I felt like it necessary to make a quick post about stuff like this.
Not every aspect in life should tango with technology or be made an app. The above idea included. Mobile apps are known for their ease-of-use, but also come with their fair shares of disadvantages.
- Data/WiFi required - While many locations in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton have great service coverage, many still do not. I have 1-2 bars of service inside my home.
- Notoriously abused with advertising trackers and data miners. Do we really want Google or other advertising companies knowing you are doing something as important as legal matters? With the chance of them selling your data? Be prepared for a lot of lawyer advertisements.
- User barrier, not everyone has a smart phone or the latest operating system, so now any useful resources or information they could have access to, is impossible to access?
- Now you are bound not only by the applications' Terms of Services, but also your phone carrier, your operating system (Google, Apple, etc.) terms. They usually have some sketchy clauses in theirs as well.
- What happens if they decide to shut down your developer account?
Important resources and information should be easily accessible on any device, which why it would makes sense to have it available on a official website.
That reminds me of how organizations and government entities use social media to share updates (including emergency updates). I do not have a X/Twitter account, I do not have a Facebook or Instagram account, yet my municipal government posts updates on these platforms, and "forgets" to make these notices on their official website. Why should I be forced to create an account to see update? What about when I try to lookup older notices, and I am blocked from doing so because those platforms, stop letting me read and present me with a stupid "Sign in to continue" modal?
Contacting my councillor about the importance and accessibility concerns of this, fell upon deaf ears. Plus why are we supporting Elon?
Making something as important as destinating a power of attorney through a few clicks of the button seems sketchy as best. That is a bucket load of very personally identifiable information (PII) to collect inside an application.
- What safeguards are in place to prevent abuse? Does it encrypt all data? Does it have MFA?
- Who created the app? A in-house team or was it outsourced to the lowest bidder on fiverr.com?
- What if your phone is lost, can a thief change the PoA?
- Who is the notary or witness? They just look over your shoulder?
- How is the authorization verified?
- What 1st party employees or 3rd party entities like organizations, contractors, or service providers have access to your data?
- What kind of cookies do you agree to when using the app?
- Who secured the database, were is the data stored, does it follow all proper ISO and other standards? Was there any audits done?
- Does it cross borders? Does the USA now have access to my PII? Is there any DPA or BAA signed?
- What happens if it is hacked? Tons of identity fraud, banking fraud, all kinds of potential risks.
- Is it an appropriate use of funds to make an application that chances are will used maybe once or twice in a person's life time?
- How often are updates including dependency updates handled? Is it going to chew through my data plan every day?
Sure this application does sound convenient, and I understand a lot of my points are "what if's" (insert old man yells at cloud meme). But time and time again, we see human error or technical error from organizations big and small. I had my identity stolen two or three times now. Why should I trust my data inside this app?
Just give me the information and resources I need to find easily. Do not make me sign in or download an app.
Just remember the Government of Nova Scotia had a privacy breach from using "MOVEit" software due to not patching to the newest version quickly enough.