The government has timed the launch of its Verify service well. This online identity management system is the real-world counterpart of the ill-fated ‘Digital Citizen’ project from my novel Sockpuppet. To mark the occasion, I wrote a piece for The Independent.
“I recently stopped hanging up on cold callers. Instead I started engaging them in conversation. This sometimes takes me in delightful directions. Like the Bangalorean man I spoke to recently who, while agreeing his call was indeed a scam, assured me it was a very high quality scam. Who could be angry at a young man with such pride in his work? Usually, though, I end up in a flaming row with the caller, over where and how they got my data.”
Read the rest of the article at The Independent.