Traveling this much, I have to identify myself often. Every time I board a plane, every time I cross a border. In countries like Italy, I have to identify myself in hotels. They take a scan of my ID card because the law requires that.
Sometimes I wonder how cool it would be not to depend on a paper passport or a plastic ID card to proof our identity. There must be a more effective way to proof who we are in front of strangers.
Humans had this problem since forever, and as soon as machines appeared we simply formalised different stages of our identification: identification, authorization, accounting, right management and so on.
It’s complicated because so many aspects of our social interactions are involved. It’s not just about having a picture and a name next to it, it also depends on who made that document, who verified that information, who accepts those credentials as true.
I find very obsolete having 10 to 15 different ID cards in my wallet. At the end of the day, my credit card is just an ID card, which claims I’m entitled to credit rights. My Drive Now card just identifies me against random cars in the street, so I can rent one when I need it. My gym membership card just ensures that a male guy named Luca can access the club premises at specific times of the day and access specific areas, instead of others.
It would be cool if there were just one card, or maybe zero cards, that would simply identify who I am, and all the other services would simply authorize transactions to it, depending on subscriptions or properties associated with it. However centralising all that power can be worrisome.
It’s an interesting problem, worth to be explored.
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