a centralized system is by definition not present locally, so it cannot verify the person itself, hence it cannot be used for identity verification. You need a

a centralized system is by definition not present locally, so it cannot verify the person itself, hence it cannot be used for identity verification. You need a local actor for all the things you mention. Credit card? there's a bit that designate that the card was physically present on the transaction place. And nothing that identify the person (even the signature on the back is joke) Drivers license? you pay the salary of hundreds of thousands of cops. IRS? you actually proved my point even further: remember california urging everyone to claim they account/password asap because criminals were rushing and filling fake returns to collect checks instead? clear sign of a system that have no clue how to verify identity. So, Who is pretending? Stop daydreaming that the technofascist lie of everyone being a verifiable number is real.