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or a digital signature, or a MAC. Something where we could verify against a publicly-known value safely, and without giving that secret part away to anyone els
by bga 9y ago
or a digital signature, or a MAC. Something where we could verify against a publicly-known value safely, and without giving that secret part away to anyone else. The secret would be between the Federal Government and the citizen.
- Simon_says 9y agoWhy should the government have it at all? Just let private citizens manage their own private key.
- nindalf 9y agoAnd what happens when people inevitably lose their private key? How will they regain access to their SSN?
- bga 9y agoExactly. You can't have perfect trust in every citizen to keep track of these things. And if it's a government issued ID in the first place, I see no trouble with them having your private key as well. Just don't reuse that key. This would take a lot of solid investment politically, and technically, to make it even slightly feasible to work for the average Joe.
- u801e 9y agoThey would probably have to through a similar procedure as they do to get a replacement social security card. That is, they would have to present at least a drivers license and US passport at one of the local social security administration offices. At that point, they can regenerate the key-pair and have the SSA official sign the public key and keep that on file. Now, presumably, it is possible to forge both documents, but I would think that the government could check their records (federal and state) to verify the authenticity of the provided documentation.