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While I have long dreamt of public-key cryptography in place of a SSN, I don't think blockchain adds any value on top of that (except filling out a buzzword bin

While I have long dreamt of public-key cryptography in place of a SSN, I don't think blockchain adds any value on top of that (except filling out a buzzword bingo square). (Among other issues) I really don't want my identity to become someone else's speculation device and would strongly prefer preventing that if at all possible. Companies selling personal data back and forth as a commodity is already bad enough. > a system that's too perfect can uniquely identify you, in ways that prevent disassociation (ex: the place of birth on the passport is of great interest to some totalitarian places, while only citizenship should matter..) Isn't this all information they already have (and would presumably keep)? Ultimately, it's the governing body that's dealing out these keys to access data they already have about you. What data is stored is completely separate from how that data is stored. If you don't want birthplace on the passport, that's totally separate from SSN vs public keys vs blockchain. > the ideal ID system is decentralized, self-declarative, and the weight of the proof depends on the length of history, not on "who" says it's true It would need to also be public, no? Otherwise, it boils back down to "who says it's true". > moving away from the current system that's a direct descendant of the census (give the lord a list of people to tax them) If you don't want to be taxed, that's also a separate issue.

csdvrx 5y ago
> If you don't want birthplace on the passport, that's totally separate from SSN vs public keys vs blockchain. Not really. If you don't put it there, it can't be collected. A blockchain solution should NOT have provision for fields you don't want out there, like say religion. > Isn't this all information they already have (and would presumably keep)? Ultimately, it's the governing body that's dealing out these keys to access data they already have about you. What data is stored is completely separate from how that data is stored. Information gets stale, so what's already out there become less relevant as time goes. Also, if you don't put everything in a nice convenient form inside a all-in-one document that's ripe for harvesting, you're making the job harder. That's the goal. > It would need to also be public, no? Otherwise, it boils back down to "who says it's true". Hence, blockchain > If you don't want to be taxed, that's also a separate issue. I tried to explain the origin of the current systems. I'm all for taxes at the point of origin (ex: wage, capital gains) without exposing more information than what's strictly required to do the job.

csdvrx 5y ago

> If you don't want birthplace on the passport, that's totally separate from SSN vs public keys vs blockchain. Not really. If you don't put it there, it can't be collected. A blockchain solution should NOT have provision for fields you don't want out there, like say religion. > Isn't this all information they already have (and would presumably keep)? Ultimately, it's the governing body that's dealing out these keys to access data they already have about you. What data is stored is completely separate from how that data is stored. Information gets stale, so what's already out there become less relevant as time goes. Also, if you don't put everything in a nice convenient form inside a all-in-one document that's ripe for harvesting, you're making the job harder. That's the goal. > It would need to also be public, no? Otherwise, it boils back down to "who says it's true". Hence, blockchain > If you don't want to be taxed, that's also a separate issue. I tried to explain the origin of the current systems. I'm all for taxes at the point of origin (ex: wage, capital gains) without exposing more information than what's strictly required to do the job.