4 ms·

I'm increasingly convinced that this is the way forward. Having a key verifiably tied to you as an individual goes a long way to enabling a broad range of gover

I'm increasingly convinced that this is the way forward. Having a key verifiably tied to you as an individual goes a long way to enabling a broad range of governmental services. Digital voting, for one thing, but also no more need to rely on shady credit check companies for address verification, as I've seen on some (Canadian) government forms.

ryukafalz 6y ago
Or social security numbers in the US, which are absolutely not fit for this purpose. For those in the US who don't want a national ID: it wouldn't have to be one if the states issued their own. Yes, this would mean they'd all need the technical capability to operate a CA securely. Fund them enough to do that.
- XorNot 6y ago
  People opposing a national ID in the US have de facto caused social security numbers, completely inappropriate as a national ID, to be used as one by everyone. The US desperately, desperately needs a proper solution where "thing you give tons of people" isn't also "exactly enough to steal your ID".
- BlueTemplar 6y ago
  National IDs have a pretty bleak history - from being initially used to keep tabs on criminals to Jews under Nazi occupation. This is why they often are not mandatory. As a curious factoid, in-between the world wars, it was popular for workers to have their ID number tatooed on their arm.
t0astbread 6y ago
With software I'd be wary of making it the last line of defense, especially for very significant acts such as voting. A bug in the system would be totally fatal, not only for society but especially for the victim. Even more so if bugs aren't commonplace but only sporadic. Using cryptography in addition to "classic" means of attestation sounds a lot better to me. You could also make it an "optional feature" of people's citizenships (like 2FA on an account) to ease adoption.

4 ms·

I'm increasingly convinced that this is the way forward. Having a key verifiably tied to you as an individual goes a long way to enabling a broad range of gover

by paledot 6y ago

ryukafalz 6y ago
Or social security numbers in the US, which are absolutely not fit for this purpose. For those in the US who don't want a national ID: it wouldn't have to be one if the states issued their own. Yes, this would mean they'd all need the technical capability to operate a CA securely. Fund them enough to do that.
- XorNot 6y ago
  People opposing a national ID in the US have de facto caused social security numbers, completely inappropriate as a national ID, to be used as one by everyone. The US desperately, desperately needs a proper solution where "thing you give tons of people" isn't also "exactly enough to steal your ID".
- BlueTemplar 6y ago
  National IDs have a pretty bleak history - from being initially used to keep tabs on criminals to Jews under Nazi occupation. This is why they often are not mandatory. As a curious factoid, in-between the world wars, it was popular for workers to have their ID number tatooed on their arm.
t0astbread 6y ago
With software I'd be wary of making it the last line of defense, especially for very significant acts such as voting. A bug in the system would be totally fatal, not only for society but especially for the victim. Even more so if bugs aren't commonplace but only sporadic. Using cryptography in addition to "classic" means of attestation sounds a lot better to me. You could also make it an "optional feature" of people's citizenships (like 2FA on an account) to ease adoption.