Incredible to think about that we got it right the first time (with email) and still had to spend the last 20 years complaining about centralized social networks.
this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2025
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Email has been "dying" for 20+ years. I'll believe it when I see it.
yeah its hard for an essential service to die. I will spout one of my super downvoted opinions but I think every government should be providing email service the same way they provide physical mail service. With all the rights currently given to physical mail. Im not saying as the only option and im being idealistic in thinking we can do like what we did with physical mail in this modern time. But I don't care. Its essential and there should be a version people have that is a right and cannot go away.
I'm not sure why the USPS shouldn't be the sole provider of email in the US.
Why in the world should it be?
No profit motive and no private interests.
I'm sure there could still be private carriers, just like there's still private delivery services like UPS and FedEx, but I don't see why the average person should be relying on a private company for essential infrastructure.
You really trust the US government to control your communications? Especially given the last 20 years?
There exist plenty of free email platforms right now. I'm not against the government providing one, but unlike physical packages, sending an email to Bumfuck, Missouri doesn't cost any more than sending it across town.
There's the cost of the ISP, and for that I think there should be a municipal option for sure, to provide service to unprofitable regions just like postal mail and rural electrification.
There's a reason they're trying to destroy and privatize USPS. It's highly unionized and the workers won't let them use USPS against us.
Also, while we're at it, USPS should also provide municipal internet.
I think isps should provide email, and the gov't should provide internet.
No, I don't trust right-wing Nazis to control my communications. And I sure as fuck trust the government more than I trust greedy corporations. The problem is that the corporations have been fucking up the capitalistic/democratic balance for the last 50 years.
We've tried that in Germany. The De-Mail was already dead when it was born.
I mean it should not be. It should be run if no one is using it but government communication should always be through it so you know its legit. I'd be fine if it was not popular. I mean if everyone sent everything through ups and fedex I would still want usps to be a thing here.
Stillborn? What killed it?
Essentially, almost nobody ever used it, not even all offices and authorities.
The problem with that is that email is not really secure enough for sensitive stuff like your bank account statements or your health/medicine journals from your doctor.
That is why in Denmark we don't have the government provide actual email, but there is rather a digital mailing system where you authenticate with your digital ID and can receive secured mail from banks, municipalities, health authorities, tax authorities and others.
I mean I want this as part of the system. I actually want my bank statement sent via email without sensitive information in it. I mean I really. really. wish we had what you do but im not keen on digital documentation being an email that says log onto the site. Its like getting a postcard that says hoof it over to the office. Since email is no less secure than snail mail I see no issue with statements going out by email if its just not going to be done properly. I mean I give my accounts nicknames. I don't need the account numbers on the statements or anything else crazy like my ssn.
I would disagree with that. The attack surface on snail mail is much, much smaller (only whoever can get in physical contact with my mail) and any attack scales incredibly badly. It is also often hard to read snail mail without making it obvious that it has been tampered with (i.e. opening the envelope).
Meanwhile the attack surface of email is huge (basically the entire internet), any attack can scale wildly and it is impossible to tell if anyone else read an email.
By and large, physical stuff is much more secure than digital stuff, just less convenient.
Yeah I get that but it does not make snail mail any more secure. It should be done right but when they are not going to do it right anyway and snail mail is an option. I would prefer to be allowed to take the option taht is at least usable. As it stands now in the US its just legal to not provide you clients with statements because that is what it effectively does.