2023 PSF annual impact report

Posted May 9, 2024 14:27 UTC (Thu) by farnz (subscriber, #17727)
In reply to: 2023 PSF annual impact report by pizza
Parent article: 2023 PSF annual impact report

The problem is that I only trust some countries and not others. Unless you present me a document that I can verify through an authority I trust, then it's precisely as useful as proving that you control a GitHub or Apple account with the same e-mail.

And that's what makes this problem so damn hard; you need a chain of trust from somewhere I trust (or am forced to trust, like my national government), otherwise your proof of identity is low-value. Geopolitics being what they are, that trust chain inevitably limits me to under 20% of the world population with trustworthy ID.

2023 PSF annual impact report

Posted May 9, 2024 14:41 UTC (Thu) by pizza (subscriber, #46) [Link] (2 responses)

> And that's what makes this problem so damn hard; you need a chain of trust from somewhere I trust (or am forced to trust, like my national government), otherwise your proof of identity is low-value.

No, that part's still relatively easy. What's hard is the same problem we've always had -- Even if you have incontrovertible proof of a BadPerson(tm)'s legal identity, if they are in a jurisdiction other than your own, it is quite difficult (ie expensive and/or time consuming) to enforce any judgement against them, even for nominally friendly jurisdictions. An actively hostile jurisdiction will fart in your general direction. If even that.

2023 PSF annual impact report

Posted May 9, 2024 14:59 UTC (Thu) by farnz (subscriber, #17727) [Link]

I'd count that as part of "somewhere I trust"; if I have no effective recourse should you abuse my trust, then your identity is not chained from "somewhere I trust".

2023 PSF annual impact report

Posted May 9, 2024 15:14 UTC (Thu) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link]

> if they are in a jurisdiction other than your own, it is quite difficult (ie expensive and/or time consuming) to enforce any judgement against them, even for nominally friendly jurisdictions

ALMOST ALL jurisdictions protect their own citizens in their home country.

To stand any chance of success, you need to go to their jurisdiction, and sue them there. (a) your chances of success are just damn low to start with, and (b) seeing as you are the foreigner, you'll probably lose because you mis-understand (or most likely don't know) the rules.

Cheers,
Wol

2023 PSF annual impact report

Posted May 9, 2024 17:14 UTC (Thu) by rgmoore (✭ supporter ✭, #75) [Link] (1 responses)

The problem is that I only trust some countries and not others.

Even that degree of trust may be too much. I trust my own government a fair bit, but I also know there are lots of fallible individuals working for that government. If even one person with the power to enter data into the system is bribed, blackmailed, or tricked, it can result in a false ID in the system. It may not be quite as easy as they show it being in spy movies, but it's definitely possible.

2023 PSF annual impact report

Posted May 10, 2024 10:28 UTC (Fri) by paulj (subscriber, #341) [Link]

I wouldn't say it's possible, rather that it is common. Maybe less so in developed western nations, but still happens there.