[orf]

> You could have a notary vouch that you're a licensed driver, or have a college degree, visited a certain country, etc.

Humans, generally, are very bad at caching document fraud. It wouldn't be a vouch for a licensed driver but instead it would be a vouch for "a bit of plastic that looked like a driving license to me".

There is lots of sophisticated fraud and often automated solutions have a much higher rate of detection than your average person, even with some training against common attacks.

[supertrope]

Certificate authorities with brick and mortar locations would be an improvement over the current USA situation of SSN+DOB as master password to all IRL accounts. Checking a drivers license IRL is better than looking at an uploaded scan or photo. They could use those box scanners casinos use.

The main issue is minimizing cost. Dot com companies and banks don't want to pay for this so they peg online identities and account security to SMS effectively pushing off the problem to cellular companies. Cellular companies lack the competence to handle IAM. Opening a branch in every city is very expensive and companies don't want to even pay ~$10 for an offshore script reader to check a SMS code and verify "public information" off a credit report.

Credit card companies that are already liable for fraud usually settle for SSN+DOB, ID scans and aforementioned Equifax data verification because fraud losses are cheaper than in person due diligence.

[uniqueid]

Absolutely! It would be far from perfect, and, but for the worst-case scenario that the internet currently embodies, not worth pursuing. But there's so much room for improvement today. Just placing a barrier against sock puppet accounts would already be a huge win.

[packet_nerd]

Maybe have the DMV be the notary for driver's licenses?