5 ms·

You're right it was never meant to be a unique identifier, we need a national identification card, link to a video about it. https://youtu.be/Erp8IAUouus https

You're right it was never meant to be a unique identifier, we need a national identification card, link to a video about it. https://youtu.be/Erp8IAUouus https://youtu.be/Erp8IAUouus

thephyber 9y ago
Strange that this is being downvoted. The video is very relevant. I get that many Americans are suspicious about our government, but the fact is that much of our credit / jobworthiness in the US is tied up in the Social Security card. I would rather it be something more useful, such as the Estonian National ID card -- which has smart features like digital contract signing.
goialoq 9y ago
Americans don't like National ID cards because we remember the Third Reich and the USSR.
- krapp 9y ago
  I think it's more that Americans don't like national ID cards because they're paranoid about the Mark of the Beast and mistrust Federal power on principle.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  I'm not sure I would proclaim that unironically in a discussion of a giant American company accidentally losing track of a database containing detailed personal information about ~1/2 the country. I mean sure, it's not in your pocket. But are you going to move house in response to this breach?
  - SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
    The point is that your social is a fairly predictable number if you can figure out someone's birthday and hometown. I realize this wouldn't help in the case of equifax but it would help in other instances. It would also allow us to have voter ID laws that didn't constitute a poll fav but that's a totally unrelated issue.
- roywiggins 9y ago
  Germany has rather more intimate knowledge of both of those, and they have national ID cards without sliding into authoritarianism...
- dx034 9y ago
  You don't need one central register with intimate data of citizens. You can keep registers local to avoid widespread data breaches. It's still possible to verify the authenticity (e.g. for police) by requesting from the local register (electronically) but no one has access to all data at once. At the same time, the system can be designed to only store the data necessary. Don't think it's necessary to store more information than for SSID.
- tripzilch 9y ago
  As opposed to who?? Are you implying that the European countries successfully implementing these systems do not? Also, if I recall correctly, the UN had to actually remind the US about the actual dangers of the Third Reich only a few weeks ago.

You're right it was never meant to be a unique identifier, we need a national identification card, link to a video about it. https://youtu.be/Erp8IAUouus https://youtu.be/Erp8IAUouus

thephyber 9y ago

Strange that this is being downvoted. The video is very relevant. I get that many Americans are suspicious about our government, but the fact is that much of our credit / jobworthiness in the US is tied up in the Social Security card. I would rather it be something more useful, such as the Estonian National ID card -- which has smart features like digital contract signing.

goialoq 9y ago

Americans don't like National ID cards because we remember the Third Reich and the USSR.

krapp 9y ago
I think it's more that Americans don't like national ID cards because they're paranoid about the Mark of the Beast and mistrust Federal power on principle.
maxerickson 9y ago
I'm not sure I would proclaim that unironically in a discussion of a giant American company accidentally losing track of a database containing detailed personal information about ~1/2 the country. I mean sure, it's not in your pocket. But are you going to move house in response to this breach?
- SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
  The point is that your social is a fairly predictable number if you can figure out someone's birthday and hometown. I realize this wouldn't help in the case of equifax but it would help in other instances. It would also allow us to have voter ID laws that didn't constitute a poll fav but that's a totally unrelated issue.
roywiggins 9y ago
Germany has rather more intimate knowledge of both of those, and they have national ID cards without sliding into authoritarianism...
dx034 9y ago
You don't need one central register with intimate data of citizens. You can keep registers local to avoid widespread data breaches. It's still possible to verify the authenticity (e.g. for police) by requesting from the local register (electronically) but no one has access to all data at once. At the same time, the system can be designed to only store the data necessary. Don't think it's necessary to store more information than for SSID.
tripzilch 9y ago
As opposed to who?? Are you implying that the European countries successfully implementing these systems do not? Also, if I recall correctly, the UN had to actually remind the US about the actual dangers of the Third Reich only a few weeks ago.