Tech’s ongoing digital identity crisis: who is going to solve it?
An analysis of ID establishment and verification in a digital age
What is meant by identity? Is it a name you, your friends and family call you, or what a document states as a true likeliness of you?
And if we are to believe that your identity is a document, then naturally much of the focus will be on verifying the legitimacy and correctness of the so-called ID document; your proof of identity.
Papers & Plastic
Ask someone, “What’s your name?” and the honest majority will likely answer truthfully. Those who are a tad smarter may not. This can be for reasons good or bad — a need for increased privacy and anonymity vs. a having a crooked mindset.
Then there are exceptions: for example nicknames and anglicised versions of names. For example, look at the multiple spellings of the simple Slavic name, Igor. The following are all valid variations of the same name, depending on the script and language: Игорь, Igor’, Ігор, Ihor, Ігар, Ihar, Игор.
What is your date of birth? The one known to you and your immediate family, or the one that a document states — albeit in rare cases, incorrectly so.
