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"In the US, they want you to register some stupid MyHealth thing, sign some paper documents, and mail follow up shit to your residential address. They won't give you medical records on anything other than a fucking CD-ROM, even in 2024. Somehow in the US, a messaging app isn't "official" enough, and there's going to be the one first amendment brat* that doesn't want to install WhatsApp for privacy reasons."

That is because you don't have any good online ID authenticator. Something like BankId in Sweden is so incredibly practical in a lot of ways.






bankid.com: "To get a BankID, you must have a Swedish personal identity number"

What do non-citizens use in Sweden to get around?

The "everything apps" of places that have them aren't usually restricted to only citizens (though some admittedly have shitty UIs for non-citizens)


Everyone who's a permanent resident in Sweden gets a personal identity number, it's not tied to your citizenship. That would be illegal anyway, at least for citizens of other EU countries.

There's a lower-level, different number, which is less powerful, but easier to get.


> Everyone who's a permanent resident in Sweden gets a personal identity number, it's not tied to your citizenship

Same in Denmark too. You get a "CPR" number, and can login to most government services (as well as some commercial ones) with "MitID" (my ID). It's quite convenient. I can even use my MitID to buy alcohol without having to interact with another human being in Rema 1000 using their self-checkout app.

Ireland—where I moved from—has a similar "PPS" number that all residents can get, although the online aspect is not nearly as well integrated as it is here in Denmark; it's slowly improving.




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