> For example, a programmer writing payroll software has to deal with the government because of taxes, so the government will decide what names are valid. (IAN

> For example, a programmer writing payroll software has to deal with the government because of taxes, so the government will decide what names are valid. (IANAL.) Hehe … but which government? (And perhaps which bureau within the government?) My birth certificate & driver's license — both issued by the same state — had different names on them. (Mostly because my state has the IQ of a rock.) (A situation I've since resolved by moving…) But yes … prompt only for the exact bits you need to feed upstream … ideally. The problem is that PMs want the UI to be "simple". Even today, there's no requirement that driver's license (state A) == birth cert (state B) == SSN (feds). (Although — again, IANAL — that last one can, AIUI, only be temporarily out of sync, as there's a requirement that if you change your legal nameᵃ that you must then change your legal nameᵇ.) (ᵃwith a state government; ᵇwith the SSA. I got no idea what the SSA does with differing legal names between states, which some states force because de jure you're not permitted to reconcile the differences. Aforementioned rock-IQ state does this.)