e-government

Before you know it, it will be that time of year again: April 15th! As a service to taxpayers who would rather not use a call center, the IRS has a "Where's My Refund?" website at http://www.irs.gov (the link is in the middle of the page.on the right side) The purpose of the site is to allow taxpayers to check on the status of their refund. Try to determine the status of your refund (but don't post what you find out!).

What are the issues for e-Government websites such as "Where's My Refund?"  What's been done to authenticate users, and to insure privacy?  Are there other approaches that could have been used? What are some other e-Government sites that provide comparable services?