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SCMP Reporter

I refer to the Forum article headlined 'E-commerce growth in HK under threat from tax bill' written by Allan Dyer (Technology section, March 4), which suggested that the government's proposals to allow citizens to submit their tax returns using number passwords instead of digital certificates was a big step backward for e-commerce and consumers.

Unfortunately, the article presented a very biased picture of the issue, neglecting several key elements.

The article made several implicit assumptions, which were that:

Digital certificates are safe;

Digital certificates can be used by all citizens;

Digital certificates would have been a success if they had just been promoted; and

Information technology experts know better than citizens what is best for them.

Unfortunately, all these assumptions are highly questionable.

At present, I cannot obtain a digital certificate in a safe manner, because Hongkong Post has restricted this option to people paying a Microsoft tax (that is, running a variant of the Windows operating system).

For all other citizens, you must trust Hongkong Post to generate the certificate on your behalf, which is a massive security hole.

If I visit the ESDLife Web site, it informs me that access to government services requires Pentium-compatible hardware. Strictly speaking, this is not correct, but many of the services have been designed in such a way as to require Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer for full support, because of how they have implemented digital certificate support and Cantonese support.

I originally applied for a digital certificate, but did not complete the process because I am not prepared to give up my security rights simply because Hongkong Post refuses to support citizens who do not wish to pay a tax to Microsoft.

I would also note that I believe that allowing Hongkong Post to be the monopoly provider of digital certificates is also an unnecessary security flaw.

These are not new issues, and I raised them with the former secretary for the information technology and broadcasting bureau and with Hongkong Post several years ago, but there has been no progress that I can see.

As for Smart ID cards, I note that the government's internal implementation of digital certificates on a smart card requires the use of - yes, you guessed it - Microsoft Windows.

I will be very pleased and surprised if this problem is fixed for Smart ID cards.

In short, allowing me (as a tax-paying citizen) to access more efficient services, without having to put up with the obvious problems of the current implementation of digital certificates in Hong Kong, is a great step forward. I salute the government for finally paying attention to my needs, and not the whining IT 'experts' who seem to want to tell us that we cannot choose a 'less secure' option.

Mr Dyer is welcome to use digital certificates if he wishes, but he has no right to tell me what I must do.

As a citizen, I should be able to choose a secure and efficient operating system for my computer, and not be required to use Microsoft Windows.

Dr John Bacon-Shone,

Director, Social Sciences Research Centre

The University of Hong Kong



Incomplete account of digital certificates