[pdonis]

> We need DMVs to begin issuing IDs that are physical with digital capabilities, like credit cards. We need the equivalent of Apple/Android Pay for identity online. We need to mandate that banks support digital IDs. And we need strict enforcement for people who misuse a digital ID.

And how will all this magically work online? Answer: you'll have to provide whatever digital secret gives you access, just the way you provide your SSN now. Which means your digital secret will be in all the same online places where your SSN is now, vulnerable to the same kind of hacking. How does this fix anything?

[baby_souffle]

> Which means your digital secret will be in all the same online places where your SSN is now, vulnerable to the same kind of hacking. How does this fix anything?

Loads of ways to do digital attestation but they all involve some 3rd party being the trusted source of truth. Typically this would be the DMV or other government branch and at this point a few red flags start to go off: dmv isn't known for it's competence and I'm not really thrilled about them getting hit to confirm my identity for pornhub.

This is a REALLY hard problem to solve unless you take a "privacy must be sacrificed for the greater good" mentality.

[jam_ocean]

Actually, you can use cryptography to prove who you are without giving anyone else the ability to simply "copy" your ID and impersonate you later. It's how message signing works: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signature#Authenticati...

Some countries already have national ID systems that use cryptography like this to secure identify oneself online, such as Estonia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_identity_card#Electro...

[pdonis]

If the crypto keys are on the ID card, how does my computer read the card? How do I know the hardware and software to do that isn't compromised?

Also, the Estonia system apparently includes keys allowing the manufacturer to perform card operations. How do I know that won't get hijacked?

[jam_ocean]

I think computers need a card reader (like a credit card reader) to read the card. Or you can use your phone to read it wirelessly via NFC.

One neat thing about systems like this is that the card itself can perform a cryptographic computation that proves its own "ID", without communicating its private key to the connected computer/phone. So even if your computer was compromised, the ID card connected to it still can't be copied. The card is simple enough that there is less attack surface (as compared to an entire computer), so it's much less likely be be hacked, even if it's connected to a hacked device. Though mistakes do happen, since no system is perfect. So if a vulnerability is discovered, new cards might need to be issued.

Granted, an attacker on your computer (controlling it remotely) could just wait until you log in to your bank via smartcard and then quickly pull all your money out... you need a more complex solution to fix that problem (like cryptocurrency hardware wallets use; they have a little screen that shows the proposed transaction, and you have to physically push a button to confirm it, and then it does another cryptographic operation to authorize that particular transaction).

However, the smart card system does prevent an attacker from simply buying a database dump of email addresses, passwords, SSNs, etc. and using that to get into your bank account.