The point of the article is discussing why the system can't work as promised ("anonymous", "voluntary") and has to devolve from "decentralized and privacy aware

The point of the article is discussing why the system can't work as promised ("anonymous", "voluntary") and has to devolve from "decentralized and privacy aware" to "shit in a bun". Yes, you need a key and the article explains why that's the case and why you don't want one.