Big ole business just itching to get more money from people’s grief… until they’re called out in front of enough people online.
Big ole business just itching to get more money from people’s grief… until they’re called out in front of enough people online.
For those that haven’t had to deal with handling the closing of accounts for someone that passed away, sending a Death Certificate is an extremely common request from a company. You usually should get 10 to 20 Death Certificates because many companies (especially banks) will require a real one, not a picture or email.
My country blew a hole in that logic by making essentially any government issued document a virtual certificate accessible through a permanente code.
You can get one copy, scan and email it indefinetely and all entities receiving only need to check the permanent code online.
It was complete chaos when it rolled out, especially for old, outdated, progress resisting entities.
Like government agencies?
Not really, in this case. It was the government issuing the new format, so it was the early adopter; some services are even interconnected and share information in real time.
In this case, it was more about banks, telecoms, energy and water companies.
This sounds very efficient of your country. Where are you from ?
Portugal
Hah I was about to say they tried this in Portugal but a lot of agencies (especially foreign ones) simply have no capacity to deal with digital certificates.
Hell I went to a public university a couple of years ago and they demanded I show them a stamped document proving that I’m employed.
That’s a different beast. Private entities are still lacking on that front but catchinf on fast.
cries in federal country
This is one those things that intrigues me.
If joining a federal government, the principle implies there is the recognition there is something good to contribute for said federation but also handicaps the federation can assist in solving.
This follows that when one member of the federation develops a solution for a problem, other members emulate it. The same way, when the federal level develops a solution for a problem, all members apply it in the exact same terms: no if, but or commas.
Yet it seems this is never what happens when dealing with federal governance.
What happens in practice is that any solution already developed by another member is basically taboo because the members do want to be seen as leading, not following so every member develops their own “solution” that is slightly different “just because”.
For real… maybe we will get something like that in germany in like a hundred years when they finally stop using fax machines lmao
We don’t have that level of centralized documentation in the US. A death certificate is issued by a much smaller subdivision of locally controlled government. The federal government doesn’t issue them.
You should.
Centralized documentation ensures accountability from the government to the citizens and vice versa.
In my little barbarian country, every child is born a citizen. If there is no possibility to registry a newborn at the hospital, through a special representation office that exists for that sole purpose on site, there is a time limit for the child to be registered; of failed, the parents face serious problems.
This simple gesture ensures the child exists and is accounted for. Social Security, Tax Number, NHS and personal identification number are immediatly issued.
In the same way, a death is immediatly reported and all those numbers are immediatly cancelled by the funeral agent - this is mandated by law. This ensures the identity can not be abused for nefarious purposes. Driving, mariner, pilot license, etc, follows the same logic.
All official documentation are centrally issued and accounted for. This even facilitates inter-agency exchange of information and speeds the issuing of social benefits and tax calculation.
A strong, transparent, central administration provides better services for the citizens.