The government has been promoting the Macao One Account mobile app’s new e-ID certificate function without fully considering the needs of senior citizens – who make up a significant portion of Macao’s ageing population, the Macau Daily Post reports.
Members of Central District Community Service Consultative Council met with an official from the Identification Services Bureau (DSI) and a Public Security Police officer yesterday, to voice concerns around the e-ID certificate’s usability. This relates to how some residents, especially the elderly, struggle to operate the service, and their qualms around what it means for personal data security. There are also struggles around using the Macao One Account app in general; a serious issue, given that it fills an increasing number of functions for day-to-day life in the city.
At the closed-door meeting, Council members Leong Wai Kei and Ao Ieong Kuong Kao proposed ways to improve trust in the service and increase its uptake by residents.
[See more: You can now download your digital medical certificates from the Macao One Account]
Leong said the government needed to work with community groups and social services organisations, as they are best positioned to provide explanations and assistance to senior citizens with regard to the app. Leong also urged the government to better promote Macao’s Cyber Security Law and what it means for personal data.
Ao Ieong suggested re-designing the app’s interfaces to be more user-friendly, providing internet access at community service centres, and offering digital device training to senior citizens.
Currently, an immigration clearing system using both the Macao One Account mobile app and iris recognition technology is in its second phase of testing, the Macau Daily Post reports.
Before yesterday’s meeting, council member Wu Hang San noted that the new border control system could provide further usability problems for citizens, especially those with eye disease or cosmetic contact lenses that change eye colour.
The Macao One Account’s e-ID certification service launched on 30 June this year. At yesterday’s meeting, Ao Ieong said that 225,000 residents – including 28,000 senior citizens – had started using the service as part of their mobile app.
