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I have written a little bit about this topic[0], describing that ideally we'd have a much better system that relied on keypairs and cryptography rather than kee
by akersten 11y ago
I have written a little bit about this topic[0], describing that ideally we'd have a much better system that relied on keypairs and cryptography rather than keeping a short, predictable number secret. I really really hope to see a movement towards better meatspace authentication in my lifetime, but I have a fear that SSNs are here for good.
[0] http://ece.rocks/alex/2015/02/01/generated-at-birth.html http://ece.rocks/alex/2015/02/01/generated-at-birth.html
- icebraining 11y agoIt's not generated at birth, but I and millions of other Portuguese citizens have state-issued smartcards with our own public keypair (and signed by their certificate). Yet just last week to sign up for a mobile contract, I had to print a PDF, sign it and scan it. The adoption has been almost nil.
- tmzt 11y agoWhere are the private keys stored? Are they kept only within the card, or are they generated externally and added to the card? I ask because it's difficult to belive that millions are generating and keeping safe a private key. Of course the lack of adoption is another concern.
- icebraining 11y agoThe card itself generates the key, and AFAIK there's no way to get a copy of it (except maybe by physically decapping the chip and reading its memory).