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The most important thing -- and I doubt this would ever happen -- would be to break off the identity (OAuth) provider and make it some kind of public non-profit

by api 2y ago

The most important thing -- and I doubt this would ever happen -- would be to break off the identity (OAuth) provider and make it some kind of public non-profit. One company should not own the identity layer for such a huge chunk of the Internet, and so many people use Google for this.

crabmusket 2y ago
Man that would be really cool. I do wish governments would move a bit faster on providing such generic public benefit services.
- api 2y ago
  I'm not a huge fan of governments doing Internet services, but the identity layer is something that actually fits within their sphere. Governments already provide the canonical identity layer for society and have since, like, ancient Egypt. Your drivers' license could have a chip in it capable of FIDO2 etc. and it could be linked with an OAuth provider. I know login.gov already exists but it's not built to be used everywhere.
  - jamesy0ung 2y ago
    I'd rather my real identity not be linked to any/all online accounts.
    - api 2y ago
      Me too but I fail to see how Google, Apple, etc are any better here. If they decide you are a fake account they can just randomly lock your account with no recourse. If a site has no login options other than designated OIDC providers then I’d say they de facto don’t allow anonymity.
  - crabmusket 2y ago
    That's a good point. Why are you not a huge fan in general though? I think governments often to do it badly, but I think it's a muscle we (broadly speaking) should try to strengthen, not just concede that we'll never be able to do it well. I was really frustrated by Australia's COVID app rollout, which was just done in typical government style - by throwing money at a big consulting corporation which delivered trash. But the solution isn't "give up". It's "do better". The solution to corruption in the public sector is to fight the corruption, not abandon the public sector.

by api 2y ago

crabmusket 2y ago

Man that would be really cool. I do wish governments would move a bit faster on providing such generic public benefit services.

api 2y ago
I'm not a huge fan of governments doing Internet services, but the identity layer is something that actually fits within their sphere. Governments already provide the canonical identity layer for society and have since, like, ancient Egypt. Your drivers' license could have a chip in it capable of FIDO2 etc. and it could be linked with an OAuth provider. I know login.gov already exists but it's not built to be used everywhere.
- jamesy0ung 2y ago
  I'd rather my real identity not be linked to any/all online accounts.
  - api 2y ago
    Me too but I fail to see how Google, Apple, etc are any better here. If they decide you are a fake account they can just randomly lock your account with no recourse. If a site has no login options other than designated OIDC providers then I’d say they de facto don’t allow anonymity.
- crabmusket 2y ago
  That's a good point. Why are you not a huge fan in general though? I think governments often to do it badly, but I think it's a muscle we (broadly speaking) should try to strengthen, not just concede that we'll never be able to do it well. I was really frustrated by Australia's COVID app rollout, which was just done in typical government style - by throwing money at a big consulting corporation which delivered trash. But the solution isn't "give up". It's "do better". The solution to corruption in the public sector is to fight the corruption, not abandon the public sector.