For example, I'd rather NOT have to manage login credentials for my bank, mortgage car payment, and various airlines.
I'd rather let login.gov handle it.
Moreover, as a saas provider, I wouldn't mind deferring this liability to someone other than google or facebook.
I apologize if this sounds futile or like I'm donning my tinfoil hat, but my guard is way up these days.
NemID itself is ran by a private party -- the basic pricing is 50 cents per unique user or 15 cents per session if you are a non-government entity.
There are some privacy protections -- as non-government entity you cannot get to the SSN, just another ID, but you can ask the user to enter their SSN and verify it's valid for that user.
It's working pretty well after they finally got rid of the Java encryption applets. However you need to have a Danish SSN to use it, so you either live in DK or are a citizen.
Besides i'm not even american, so whatever
Plus, disliking and being wary of government is quintessentially American—it goes back to our roots as a country.
As an example that just popped into my head, look at DACA: a bunch of undocumented persons told the federal government about their undocumented status (in exchange for something good) and now that information can/will/may be used to deport them.
With the government, it cuts both ways.
Your answers were more about things the government can do to screw you over. It can do those things if your data is stored in Facebook as well: search warrants, compliance orders, subpoenas, etc. will all result in the government having access to your data unless strong encryption is used on your data (which, as we've seen with Apple, is still not enough sometimes).
I think (though I may be wrong) that the question had more to do with whether you trust this solution to be more secure against external/accidental breach than a solution offered by Facebook. I don't know the answer to that question, though.
> are you more scared about data security in an online identity provider provided by the government or Facebook et. al.?
Fair question. I'd still choose Facebook, mostly because they have an economic incentive not to screw it up. The government, on the other hand, has no such incentives. I mean, I trust both about as far as I can throw them, but at least one stays in business by practicing good security.