Comments on: More on Public SSNs

By: Axel

Axel — Thu, 03 Mar 2005 06:57:37 +0000

Actually, there are ways to make identifiers reasonably secure. However, they are not in any way compatible with US culture.
Let me explain: over here we have both mandatory ID cards and mandatory registration with the town administration (so they can always, at least theoretically, know where any given citizen lives). The government issued ID cards and passports are the identificators and since they are reasonably hard to come by and/or fake they can be used pretty effectively. It works – actually, it works very well.

However, I know that this situation gives most US citizens the creeps because they fear Big Brother (and, given the current situation, probably rightfully so). I agree that with the current terrorist craze all across the world any system freshly put in place will probably be used for much more surveillance than is being done over here. We are lucky that the system was put in place long enough ago that it’s established and not over-used or abused.

As usual, YMMV.

By: Stuart Berman

Stuart Berman — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 03:34:42 +0000

Seems that I was onto something with Adam (see the post you reference at http://www.emergentchaos.com/archives/000957.html

Adam is against the idea of a definitive identifier that is capable irrefutable evidence.

This leads me to wonder whether his taking issue with your proposal is ‘on the up and up’.

But I also have to wonder if the only effective way to protect privacy is to promulgate ineffective indentity mechanisms. An alternative to me seems to design into the system checks and balances the keep any one party from abusing the systems (including the government as a party) perhaps through the use of independent and varied international certificate authorities.

By: Stuart Berman

Stuart Berman — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 17:32:18 +0000

I posted along similar lines on Adam’s blog but using DNA. Would you care to comment?

http://www.emergentchaos.com/archives/000950.html

Sometimes it seems that there is an underlying resistance to have an absolute identifier (which I agree doesn’t need to be secret) and which is somehow equated with a fear of privacy abuse.