[Zarathustra30]

How much does real-life identity actually matter online? There are only a few situations (e.g. interviews) where identity should affect the outcome of interactions, yet face-to-face meeting is impossible.

Most interactions online are not affected by identity, but by action. I don't care if this article was written by the real Andrew Barisser or by the pile of hyper-intelligent cats posing as him.

[ellio]

It matters enormously in financial transactions for regulatory reason. Companies that want to process transactions need to have at least a defensible mechanism for identifying their customers.

[maxerickson]

Contact discovery is a desirable feature, one no one has really figured out how to do without sharing info with a server.