Re:Our entire credit bureau system is broken
by PeterisP on Monday September 11, 2017 @09:14AM
(#15218220)
Having a public/private key system doesn't solve the key problems of identity, namely, a link between your public key and you, and ensuring that it's not easy to create new alternate identities.
Having a digital signature by a private key is a decent way to ensure that you are linked to the public key, if the recipient knows the identity of the public key, and the private key is hard to copy (i.e. not memorizable, not something you type in to a bunch of potentially compromised computers). One way to do this is like Estonia's e-ID, which includes such a private key in the gov't issued photo ID; but having such an ID in the first place seems anathema in US.
Having a digital signature by a private key is a decent way to ensure that you are linked to the public key, if the recipient knows the identity of the public key, and the private key is hard to copy (i.e. not memorizable, not something you type in to a bunch of potentially compromised computers). One way to do this is like Estonia's e-ID, which includes such a private key in the gov't issued photo ID; but having such an ID in the first place seems anathema in US.