Stuff like national ID, banks, ISP, job search websites, doctor appointments, etc, require[1] having an email address, and it feels wrong using gmail and similar providers for these use cases that are already tied to you having a physical presence in that location anyway.
Could be provided by any local company, really, but postal services are not going to disappear anytime soon and they already have a second way of getting in contact with you if there's any issue (registered mail[2]).
Debit cards are already delivered through postal mail anyway, and there's not many things that are more sensitive than that.
[1]: Well, maybe doctor appointments don't require and only strongly encourage, but that doesn't affect the point too much.
This has largely been replaced by videochat for ID card verification where some underpaid person walks you through holding your ID card in front of your smartphone cameras to verify that it's real, not CG, not tampered with and matches your claimed identity.
The critical aspect here is that you don't have to hand your ID card (or a picture of it) to the company that wants to know your identity. The post office or the videochat provider serves as a trusted source of truth.
https://www.deutschepost.de/en/p/postident/geschaeftskunden/...
Besides, the french administration is providing its own global scheme for online authentication.
Right now it works for all public services, but it is also open to all willing businesses.
It makes it also very easy to control tightly what kind of information is distributed to various services and businesses.
https://FranceConnect.gouv.fr/ is the online auth provided by the administration.
I personally sign up to all online services with a different email each. I would like to be sure that my identity is hidden behind an alias for all services, so that they cannot be linked together. And if i want multiple accounts (for better or worse), i should be able to achieve that end.
edit: Also also, they have to go into a physical post office and be observed trying to steal your account. Given how it's quite possible to steal accounts via social engineering, this seems like an improvement in security, not a reduction.
The social engineering attack surface of my account currently consists of a handful of support contacts at my ISP, who have been trained to deal with computer security. If you allow any USPS employee to access your account, you've suddenly increased the potential attack surface by several orders of magnitude.
(2) An entity you're directly paying to may go out of business, sometimes due to circumstances beyond their control. At least state-sponsored entities don't do it so abruptly in most of the "civilized world".
It’s a government in-person KYC.
Assuming that this time the deadline doesn't get pushed back at the last minute again like has kept happening so far.
Those without acceptable identification may complete an identity verification process and face additional screening. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification
I did it involuntarily because I forgot my wallet once, and decided “well, I’ll either get through and in my way, or I’m too late to drive home anyway and will miss” - and it worked fine.
Even crossed back into the USA without my passport a few times. Just additional screening and bitching is all (at least if you’re a US citizen; membership in the Empire has its perks!).
I also don't really want to have to carry my green card around everywhere. Just one more thing that can be lost.
To travel internationally, a passport is required (not drivers licenses).
Maybe we just ask for an open authentication system instead? Leave the email part to someone else… and maybe the open authentication can plug a crypto app/email/phone backend for recovery once it is setup. Heck, given that’s it’s the USPS, they will probably offer a snail-mail recovery option (for better or worse.)