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Sms “auth” is doing nothing but piggybacking/hijacking the hard credit pull the carriers ran on you when you got your phone. So something that indicates there’

Sms “auth” is doing nothing but piggybacking/hijacking the hard credit pull the carriers ran on you when you got your phone. So something that indicates there’s a real person there paying a bill. Plenty of room for innovation here but my suspicion would be that it be a function of a credit bureau.

bensecure 3y ago
Does sms auth not work with prepaid sim cards? I think the real benefit is that a sim card is basically a trusted computing device, but with a system in place at the carrier to give you back your number if you lose it. In effect, its a digital proof of identity. Since identity is fundamentally the job of the government, the real solution should be id cards with trusted computing chips in them. Though that will open up a can of worms with regards to privacy and government overreach.
- mindslight 3y ago
  Simple answer: implement a privacy law with teeth. It doesn't even need to be framed from scratch - the GDPR does a fantastic job at preempting most of the flaws that lobbyists would love to slip in.
  - naniwaduni 3y ago
    What is the whole "consent" nonsense in the GDPR if not a huge gaping flaw slipped in by lobbyists?
- tsimionescu 3y ago
  It does, but in most of Europe at least, the process for (legally) getting a prepaid SIM card also involves showing government ID.
otabdeveloper4 3y ago
Lots of countries don't have the concept of "credit rating" and yet still everyone uses the phone as a second factor, everywhere. No, the reason is that your phone number effectively functions as your personal ID, lacking of any other good alternative.
SheinhardtWigCo 3y ago
It already is the function of a credit bureau, and they're not doing a very good job. AT&T required me to go to a retail store with government-issued ID and provide the last 4 digits of my SSN. I then had to answer some questions that were clearly provided by a credit bureau; all of them were some version of "which of these 5 addresses have you lived at before?" This was concerning because I'd think that for most people, with a bit of digging, it's not that hard to get a list of previous addresses. But sim swapping should probably be at least as difficult as obtaining a replacement passport or drivers license.

bensecure 3y ago

Does sms auth not work with prepaid sim cards? I think the real benefit is that a sim card is basically a trusted computing device, but with a system in place at the carrier to give you back your number if you lose it. In effect, its a digital proof of identity. Since identity is fundamentally the job of the government, the real solution should be id cards with trusted computing chips in them. Though that will open up a can of worms with regards to privacy and government overreach.

mindslight 3y ago
Simple answer: implement a privacy law with teeth. It doesn't even need to be framed from scratch - the GDPR does a fantastic job at preempting most of the flaws that lobbyists would love to slip in.
- naniwaduni 3y ago
  What is the whole "consent" nonsense in the GDPR if not a huge gaping flaw slipped in by lobbyists?
tsimionescu 3y ago
It does, but in most of Europe at least, the process for (legally) getting a prepaid SIM card also involves showing government ID.

otabdeveloper4 3y ago

Lots of countries don't have the concept of "credit rating" and yet still everyone uses the phone as a second factor, everywhere. No, the reason is that your phone number effectively functions as your personal ID, lacking of any other good alternative.

SheinhardtWigCo 3y ago

It already is the function of a credit bureau, and they're not doing a very good job. AT&T required me to go to a retail store with government-issued ID and provide the last 4 digits of my SSN. I then had to answer some questions that were clearly provided by a credit bureau; all of them were some version of "which of these 5 addresses have you lived at before?" This was concerning because I'd think that for most people, with a bit of digging, it's not that hard to get a list of previous addresses. But sim swapping should probably be at least as difficult as obtaining a replacement passport or drivers license.