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It's actually a little more complex than that. Many people go through computers several times between moving to each new social network. You have to also A) pri

It's actually a little more complex than that. Many people go through computers several times between moving to each new social network. You have to also A) print and store the key (yikes), B) make sure you move the file to the new computer (easy now with migration assistance) or C) make sure you are backing up your computer (a lot less people use backups than should).

Turing_Machine 3y ago
How is that different from passwords, exactly? Okay, maybe you can remember the passwords for services you use on a daily basis, but I must have a couple of hundred passwords to deal with, at least. Password managers can help with the data overload, but only at the cost of introducing the same single point of failure as a private key, and arguably a less-secure one.
- reportgunner 3y ago
  You can use the "forgot password" dialog for passwords.
- pavlov 3y ago
  It’s not different from just a password. That’s why no service uses an unrecoverable password as the only authentication mechanism because it would be a terrible usability and security problem. Ordinary people expect to be able to reset forgotten passwords. And because people are bad at managing passwords, reasonable services try to get them to use 2FA so their accounts wouldn’t get stolen. A service that uses plain private keys has both problems.
  - Turing_Machine 3y ago
    > it would be a terrible usability and security problem. Compared to, say, someone being able to compromise every account you have because you walked away from your desktop or phone while logged into email?
  - JetSpiegel 3y ago
    Just email the private key to yourself, or store in your password manager for hacker types.
- danhor 3y ago
  In addition to the other points, "regular users" unfortunately still quite often use only a few passwords, shared between all their services. So only 3-4 passwords (and variations) to remember!
JonathanBeuys 3y ago
I don't know anybody who has no data they care for. Everybody has some data they never don't want to lose. So the Nostr key would be just another piece of such data. Also, losing it would not that much of a desaster. Use a new key, and let people know about it via other channels.

Turing_Machine 3y ago

How is that different from passwords, exactly? Okay, maybe you can remember the passwords for services you use on a daily basis, but I must have a couple of hundred passwords to deal with, at least. Password managers can help with the data overload, but only at the cost of introducing the same single point of failure as a private key, and arguably a less-secure one.

reportgunner 3y ago
You can use the "forgot password" dialog for passwords.
pavlov 3y ago
It’s not different from just a password. That’s why no service uses an unrecoverable password as the only authentication mechanism because it would be a terrible usability and security problem. Ordinary people expect to be able to reset forgotten passwords. And because people are bad at managing passwords, reasonable services try to get them to use 2FA so their accounts wouldn’t get stolen. A service that uses plain private keys has both problems.
- Turing_Machine 3y ago
  > it would be a terrible usability and security problem. Compared to, say, someone being able to compromise every account you have because you walked away from your desktop or phone while logged into email?
- JetSpiegel 3y ago
  Just email the private key to yourself, or store in your password manager for hacker types.
danhor 3y ago
In addition to the other points, "regular users" unfortunately still quite often use only a few passwords, shared between all their services. So only 3-4 passwords (and variations) to remember!

JonathanBeuys 3y ago

I don't know anybody who has no data they care for. Everybody has some data they never don't want to lose. So the Nostr key would be just another piece of such data. Also, losing it would not that much of a desaster. Use a new key, and let people know about it via other channels.