4 ms·

I'll run counter to the crowd here. I think that real identity verification could be a very good thing for the internet if implemented correctly. It would rai

I'll run counter to the crowd here. I think that real identity verification could be a very good thing for the internet if implemented correctly. It would raise the barrier to entry for misinformation campaigns conducted online and it would presumably make it harder to spam. I also think that there's a way you could have verification while still maintaining relatively anonymity on these sites (i.e.; I have to verify my identity with Google but I can post under a pseudonym with only Google being able to make the connection back to who I am as a person). Obviously there would still be situations where you'd want true anonymity but plenty of online forums like Reddit's askScience do their own verification of user credentials. It would be nice if there was a verification process in place with someone like Google where I could sign up for a forum I trust less like Reddit and verify I have a degree without revealing (to random Reddit mods) who I am. And this already plays out on age restricted sites on the internet. I buy tobacco products online sometimes and I have to verify with my real driver's license who I am. I'd actually prefer some government service that could do that verification on my behalf so I don't have to give my PII to every store I want to make a purchase from.

pixl97 5y ago
All fun and games till the sites leak who is behind your pseudonym. And you 100% know that your real ID linked information will be sold to advertisers... I mean 'business partners'. People will still steal ID's and link them to accounts. And requiring a telephone number for verification is even worse. I signed up for twitter, they asked for a #. I didn't and my account got locked. Two weeks later they had a data breach and leaked those number to the world. Many services have my information. I don't post my opinions to a single one of those. Please stop fulfilling the authoritarians wet dreams.
bostik 5y ago
> real identity verification could be a very good thing for the internet if implemented correctly. Considering all the edge cases and ill-informed/malicious second-order effects, I don't think it can be implemented correctly. You can never know when a particular group becomes an ostracised target of hate, with every public posting in their history used to smear and attack them, or used as justification to doxx them and have their entire families subjected to a torrent of torment. > I'd actually prefer some government service that could do that verification on my behalf so I don't have to give my PII to every store I want to make a purchase from. So something like BankID? Swedes and Danes on HN can probably air their gripes about that system.
stjohnswarts 5y ago
You want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Why not let google/facebook let people volunteer their id and then only hear from others who have also self identified. Everything else gets blacked out. This is nothing more than the UK wanting to track everything that you do on the web so they can file it away to use against you in the future.

pixl97 5y ago

All fun and games till the sites leak who is behind your pseudonym. And you 100% know that your real ID linked information will be sold to advertisers... I mean 'business partners'. People will still steal ID's and link them to accounts. And requiring a telephone number for verification is even worse. I signed up for twitter, they asked for a #. I didn't and my account got locked. Two weeks later they had a data breach and leaked those number to the world. Many services have my information. I don't post my opinions to a single one of those. Please stop fulfilling the authoritarians wet dreams.

bostik 5y ago

> real identity verification could be a very good thing for the internet if implemented correctly. Considering all the edge cases and ill-informed/malicious second-order effects, I don't think it can be implemented correctly. You can never know when a particular group becomes an ostracised target of hate, with every public posting in their history used to smear and attack them, or used as justification to doxx them and have their entire families subjected to a torrent of torment. > I'd actually prefer some government service that could do that verification on my behalf so I don't have to give my PII to every store I want to make a purchase from. So something like BankID? Swedes and Danes on HN can probably air their gripes about that system.

stjohnswarts 5y ago

You want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Why not let google/facebook let people volunteer their id and then only hear from others who have also self identified. Everything else gets blacked out. This is nothing more than the UK wanting to track everything that you do on the web so they can file it away to use against you in the future.