3 ms·

Sending photos of government issued IDs to third parties looks like a very dangerous approach to the problem. These photos could be stolen and reused for fraud

by okso 10y ago

Sending photos of government issued IDs to third parties looks like a very dangerous approach to the problem. These photos could be stolen and reused for fraud and identity theft. Electronic IDs provide a much safer and more reliable way to check the identity of a user. Eg: every citizen in Belgium can authenticate HTTPS connections with his ID card.

revicon 10y ago
Whats an "Electronic ID"?
- schoen 10y ago
  In this context, probably an ID containing a smartcard which contains a cryptographic key.
- okso 10y ago
  An Electronic Identification or "eID" is an ID card with a chip on it, that allows operations such as authentication and signing electronic documents. See Wikipedia for more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_identification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_identification
noddingham 10y ago
My first thought as well: why am I trusting a middleman with this? IMO if you're trusting a third-party to provide government-issued ID verification you're asking for trouble.
- wmf 10y ago
  AFAIK the US government doesn't provide this service, so third parties are the best there is.
  - Animats 10y ago
    The US Government does provide this service, but only for employers (E-Verify) and gun dealers (Insta-Check).
chinathrow 10y ago
Airbnb forces to use a 3rd party service too. I hated it, and then I had to do it again for no apparent reason after a more than a year.
- MichaelGG 10y ago
  Coinbase decided I had to do that, even to access coins already in my wallet. Then it decided that my ID wasn't compatible with my existing bank (only account I have) info and removed the connection without warning. They informed me they would not remove my information and could not do anything. Scammy.
sbierwagen 10y ago
That would be great if the US had eID cards, which we don't, and probably won't for decades. If the states hated REAL ID,[1] then they sure won't like eID. When someone solves a problem in a particular technology stack in a suboptimal way, it is generally considered unhelpful to tell them they should have just used a totally different stack. "Why bother working around that registry issue in Windows, when you could have just used a superior operating system, such as OS X?", etc. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act
- aestetix 10y ago
  The US doesn't and probably will never have eID, for several reasons: 1. The US does not have a compulsory national ID. No, Social Security is in fact opt-in, it's just that these days most people are opted in without their consent. Passports are clearly optional. 2. The US is unique in the states/federal struggle, which has been ongoing since before 1776. One of the reasons REAL ID will never get adopted is because many states fight strongly against it. 3. There is a real question of jurisdiction. Does the Constitution grant the right for the federal government to force citizens to have an ID? If you invoke the supremacy clause, the states will invoke the 10th amendment right back at you :) 4. Do you really want the US to have a federal ID database? Between the Hillary emails, the OPM hack, and the general spirit in which the federal government seems to be operating, the last thing I'd want is for them to have more power.

by okso 10y ago

revicon 10y ago

Whats an "Electronic ID"?

schoen 10y ago
In this context, probably an ID containing a smartcard which contains a cryptographic key.
okso 10y ago
An Electronic Identification or "eID" is an ID card with a chip on it, that allows operations such as authentication and signing electronic documents. See Wikipedia for more info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_identification https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_identification

noddingham 10y ago

My first thought as well: why am I trusting a middleman with this? IMO if you're trusting a third-party to provide government-issued ID verification you're asking for trouble.

wmf 10y ago
AFAIK the US government doesn't provide this service, so third parties are the best there is.
- Animats 10y ago
  The US Government does provide this service, but only for employers (E-Verify) and gun dealers (Insta-Check).

chinathrow 10y ago

Airbnb forces to use a 3rd party service too. I hated it, and then I had to do it again for no apparent reason after a more than a year.

MichaelGG 10y ago
Coinbase decided I had to do that, even to access coins already in my wallet. Then it decided that my ID wasn't compatible with my existing bank (only account I have) info and removed the connection without warning. They informed me they would not remove my information and could not do anything. Scammy.

sbierwagen 10y ago

That would be great if the US had eID cards, which we don't, and probably won't for decades. If the states hated REAL ID,[1] then they sure won't like eID. When someone solves a problem in a particular technology stack in a suboptimal way, it is generally considered unhelpful to tell them they should have just used a totally different stack. "Why bother working around that registry issue in Windows, when you could have just used a superior operating system, such as OS X?", etc. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REAL_ID_Act

aestetix 10y ago
The US doesn't and probably will never have eID, for several reasons: 1. The US does not have a compulsory national ID. No, Social Security is in fact opt-in, it's just that these days most people are opted in without their consent. Passports are clearly optional. 2. The US is unique in the states/federal struggle, which has been ongoing since before 1776. One of the reasons REAL ID will never get adopted is because many states fight strongly against it. 3. There is a real question of jurisdiction. Does the Constitution grant the right for the federal government to force citizens to have an ID? If you invoke the supremacy clause, the states will invoke the 10th amendment right back at you :) 4. Do you really want the US to have a federal ID database? Between the Hillary emails, the OPM hack, and the general spirit in which the federal government seems to be operating, the last thing I'd want is for them to have more power.