> Functioning identity systems are a component of a functioning > government. That's a very strong and parochial claim. Good, reliable, trustworthy, functioni

> Functioning identity systems are a component of a functioning > government. That's a very strong and parochial claim. Good, reliable, trustworthy, functioning government has existed for between 5,000 and 10,000 years depending on which anthropology you follow. For almost all of that time, governments have had scant legibility into the size or makeup of their population, barring a rather crude census every now and then. Identity at individual granularity happened practically yesterday, and is still a project in progress for many nation states. It's really a function of global travel, banking systems, modern social welfare benefits and healthcare. A well designed government does not need micro-relations with each and every citizen, but works fine in aggregation, devolved autonomous subsystems and heuristics. The "Government needs to know all about you" is a technocratic conceit less than 100 years old.