Digital-only government meeting resistance

Over half a million Danes say dropping snail mail for government correspondence is a bad idea

Jul 21, 2014

From this autumn, a large proportion of government correspondence will only be available via email. Reminders concerning things like doctor and hospital appointments, vehicle inspections and other government business will be sent electronically only. That means, that beginning on November 1, every resident over 15-years-old will have to have a digital mailbox to communicate with various public authorities. Many people, especially older residents, are not looking forward to the switch from snail mail to email.

“I’m too old,” Erling Dahl, a farmer from Jutland told DR Nyheder. “It is constantly being drummed into our heads that we have to make things easier for government while the rest of us are forced to go along with whatever they come up with.”

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A representative from senior advocacy group Ældresagen said that simply not everyone is ready to ride the digital wave.

“Not everyone can use the internet and not everyone has a computer, so they will still need to get a letter,” spokesperson Ingrid Lauridsen told DR Nyheder. “They will have to request to be excused at the citizen services office. Anyone who wishes to be exempt may be.”

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