They should be designed to be interoperable and each functional layer should be completely self sufficient, so that any particular module can be eliminated or m

They should be designed to be interoperable and each functional layer should be completely self sufficient, so that any particular module can be eliminated or modified without affecting underlying data. Anti-theft and anti-abuse functionality needs to be baked in from the ground up, so that individuals have total control over their data, with governments able to maintain some absolutely minimal necessary baseline of record keeping. For example: A health department could build a vaccination status verification system, and be provided by the local government with the ability to signa citizen's record. Participation needs to be voluntary and easily reversible. At the same time, the health department should have an ephemeral record from which an accidentally reversed or deleted signature can be recovered. If someone gets their ID stolen, they can go to their local courthouse, get a new ID key, synchronize everything up to the time right before the compromise, sign off on deactivating the old key, and continue on with life. Not only does it have to be private and secure, it has to allow for human fallibility and malice. A system like this could be the basis for controlling law enforcement access to biometrics. If you have no criminal record, all fingerprint and DNA and other data could be restricted without a warrant, or voluntary participation, or legally structured access. Things like this would eliminate the practice of fingerprinting children, using facial recognition or DNA dragnets without explicit judicial permissions, meaning law enforcement access has to be baked in. If done right, it could mean every piece of information could be cryptographically segregated, and a record stored within the blockchain, forcing accountability in any government access and use of private data. Best of all, it would allow secure digital voting. Instead of an election day, you could set a voting week or even month during which every citizen has the opportunity to cast their vote, then verify their selections. People would need to use the extended time frame to ensure their vote is accurate and their keys secure, and only have to go to a polling location if they have been compromised (or simply want to use paper. ) It would need to be wargamed extensively and over the course of at least a year, but we should be leveraging the best technology has to offer. It just needs to be better than what we have, and that's an abysmally low bar.