Identity: evolution or revolution?
October 22nd, 2002 by jiri
Nathaniel Torgington: “There are really only two outcomes that I can see: someone comes up with a killer app (and so the technology embodied in that killer app wins), or the Government mandates it [digital identity].”
In the real world, rather than having a single “digital identity” we have different identifiers for different purposes (interestingly enough some them are not identifiers but authorisations). Trying to establish a single killer app for a single digital identity does not mirror real world and thus I think is bound to fail.
I also think that there are enormous legal, technical and logistical challenges for mass scale multi-purpose digital ID cards and thus there is no chance for a government-mandated DI to become killer application anytime soon.
Overall, I am more inclined to think that we are and will be witnessing evolution rather than revolution.