5 ms·

Yeah until the government database gets compromised and all the private keys get leaked.

• user5994461 8y ago
  They couldn't be leaked, they would be in the hands of the people. The government only needs a public key.
  • colejohnson66 8y ago
    Then when the user inevitable loses their private key? Not everyone is tech savvy enough.
    • BenjiWiebe 8y ago
      Then use an annoying lengthy in person procedure to issue a new one.
    • fivefive55 8y ago
      That doesn't sound any worse than losing your social security number.
      • colejohnson66 8y ago
        Your SSN you can memorize. A 2048 bit+ private key is gonna be a lot harder
      • acdha 8y ago
        SSNs are identifiers and not intended to be private. The only reason anyone cares about SSNs is that some private businesses were negligent in their authentication procedures and have tried to shift the blame to the victims. In contrast, if you have public-key encryption people are going to build systems on the assumption that your private key is only available to you despite several decades of history showing that's not a safe assumption.
    • bashinator 8y ago
      Make issuance and re-issuing of the key contingent on DNA verification.
      • andrewla 8y ago
        ... so the government has a copy of your DNA on file? What about when that database gets compromised?
        • sneakernets 8y ago
          That would be some pretty impressive skills to fake DNA.
          • andrewla 8y ago
            I was referring more to the privacy implications of having the government have your DNA on file. Faking DNA; well for that it would depend on how the test was administered. A cheek swab would be reasonably easy to fool, a blood draw less so if administered carefully. This is all assuming no corruption or anything; DNA tests contain no cryptographically attestable proof of match. Any who knows, with DNA based therapies you might find yourself unable to pass a DNA test for yourself in the future.
  • deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  • gammateam 8y ago
    You go in person and give a new public key and cryptographically sign the governments message with it In person the government will have their own redundant and convoluted process to verify you before giving you a message to sign, just like today to reissue a SSN
• pariahHN 8y ago
  This isn't how asymmetric encryption works - government would store public keys, users would manage their own private keys +/- passphrases. If there was a breach at central storage, the only thing that could possibly be taken would be the public keys which by definition are useless for anything other than verifying a signed message or encrypting a message to the holder of the private key.
  • sbarre 8y ago
    You're right, my mistake!