Alec Saunders SquawkBox

I’m very happy to hear that Ted agrees with me on personal identity management.  I do disagree, somewhat, with his view that identity must be wrapped in a centralized trust model.  It seems to me that there are a myriad of ways which you could assert identity based on relationships we already have: banks, churches, lawyers, etc.  I know it’s not necessary to provide a guarantor to get a passport in the US, but it is in Canada.  In fact, if you’re living abroad, you have to provide two in order to get a passport, and they have to be people who have known you for a minimum of two years and who come from a limited number of backgrounds / professions. Why couldn’t I visit a notary, provide some verifiable credentials and be issued a certificate? Surely a decentralized model, based on the trust relationships that already exist in society could be just as workable.

Bloviating, eh Ted?  Oi!

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source

blo·vi·ate (blō’vÄ“-āt’)  Pronunciation Key   intr.v.  blo·vi·at·ed, blo·vi·at·ing, blo·vi·ates Slang To discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner: “the rural Babbitt who bloviates about ‘progress’ and ‘growth’” (George Rebeck).