> Like it's mind-blowing to me that charities still call you and ask for credit card details over the phone and this is like...a legitimate way to go about things.
> Or that any government agency calls you and doesn't just leave a verifiable number to call the operator back on.
That's rather unfortunate! I wonder if in those cases it'd be better to tell them that you'll get in contact through e-mail or something, because then at least it's you going to their actual homepage, looking up contact details and communicating through that.
In my country, we also have a bunch of governmental e-services, one of which is a web based communication platform with most institutionns (translated description, because they haven't bothered to translate it themselves, and also sometimes block connections from outside the country):
> An e-address, or official electronic address, is a personalized mailbox on the Latvija.gov.lv portal for unified and secure communication with state and local government institutions.
The e-address system organizes secure, efficient and high-quality e-communication and e-document circulation between state institutions and private individuals, ensuring data confidentiality and protection of personal data from unauthorized access, unlawful processing or disclosure, accidental loss, alteration or destruction.
An e-address is not e-mail, but its use is similar. Communication in an e-address is confidential, and the data is guaranteed to be available only to you and the institution you contacted.
The main purpose of an e-address is to replace registered paper letters with electronic ones in cases where a state administration institution needs to send information and documents to a specific resident or entrepreneur. Citizens and entrepreneurs can also contact more than 3,000 institutions at any time and from any location via E-address. These include not only state and local government institutions, such as the Food and Veterinary Service, the State Labor Inspectorate, the Competition Council, etc., but also judicial institutions, sworn bailiffs and insolvency administrators, as well as private individuals to whom state administration tasks have been delegated.
That seems like a pretty good common sense idea for organizing trusted 2 way communication.
> Or that any government agency calls you and doesn't just leave a verifiable number to call the operator back on.
That's rather unfortunate! I wonder if in those cases it'd be better to tell them that you'll get in contact through e-mail or something, because then at least it's you going to their actual homepage, looking up contact details and communicating through that.
In my country, we also have a bunch of governmental e-services, one of which is a web based communication platform with most institutionns (translated description, because they haven't bothered to translate it themselves, and also sometimes block connections from outside the country):
> An e-address, or official electronic address, is a personalized mailbox on the Latvija.gov.lv portal for unified and secure communication with state and local government institutions. The e-address system organizes secure, efficient and high-quality e-communication and e-document circulation between state institutions and private individuals, ensuring data confidentiality and protection of personal data from unauthorized access, unlawful processing or disclosure, accidental loss, alteration or destruction. An e-address is not e-mail, but its use is similar. Communication in an e-address is confidential, and the data is guaranteed to be available only to you and the institution you contacted. The main purpose of an e-address is to replace registered paper letters with electronic ones in cases where a state administration institution needs to send information and documents to a specific resident or entrepreneur. Citizens and entrepreneurs can also contact more than 3,000 institutions at any time and from any location via E-address. These include not only state and local government institutions, such as the Food and Veterinary Service, the State Labor Inspectorate, the Competition Council, etc., but also judicial institutions, sworn bailiffs and insolvency administrators, as well as private individuals to whom state administration tasks have been delegated.
That seems like a pretty good common sense idea for organizing trusted 2 way communication.