I agree that it's unlikely unless there's massive public outcry, and even then I don't see it happening. The status quo is too entrenched and until elected lead

I agree that it's unlikely unless there's massive public outcry, and even then I don't see it happening. The status quo is too entrenched and until elected leaders feel the pain from their constituents nothing is going to change. I concentrated on SSN because it's the government-issued fact-based "authentication" factor. The other fact-based factors are just as bad. I wish we could have a government-sponsored PKI but between concerns from citizens about "freedom" (either freedom for business to "innovate" in the space, or freedom from individuals to be "tracked" by the government) and from surveillance advocates who will want to include key escrow/recovery provision I don't see it flying. In some other comments on this post I mentioned the USPS would be a great "trust" provider. They already serve in that capacity to some extent evidenced by the various government entities who accept an addressed piece of mail as proof of residency. I don't think there'd be enough bipartisan support to make it happen, but I think it'd work great.