[PrimeMcFly]

> This seems like a pretty basic thing for a government to do.

Then why is it only EU countries and authoritarian governments that do it?

> They need to know your address for a lot of things.

And when those things come up, they can ask your address. But requiring people to register in general is a step too far.

[orion_uranus]

> They need to know your address for a lot of things.

>> And when those things come up, they can ask your address.

How would they do that if they don't have your address? For example: a decent amount of elderly don't use the internet, how would they be contacted?

[PrimeMcFly]

> How would they do that if they don't have your address?

If you need to deal with taxes, you submit your address to the tax agency.

If you need to deal with license stuff, you deal with the equivalent of the DMV.

And so on.

There's no need to just file your address with the government 'in general'.

> a decent amount of elderly don't use the internet, how would they be contacted?

Internet is kind of irrelevant. Most government agencies don't use the internet to contact people unless they specifically opt in and the agency offers that.

They would use your last known address, or wait for you to contact them.