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Comment by xinayder | Hacker News Reader

We don't need age attestation or any kind of identity attestation, period.

You are framing the debate in a reasonable way.

But apparently are unaware that this debate is being forced by powerful unreasonable people who are not going to give up if we leave a resolution up to them.

Reasonable and informed people want to avoid that. By stronger means than repeating “I don’t need that” until we realize that didn’t work.

When a site you and i need requires you and I to register with our governments to access it, how is your reasonable opinion going to help us navigate that?

We definitely need identity attestation in some places. A basic example is when authorising tax return payments. Or when opening a line of credit. Also when getting e.g. a concealed carry license. And similar for government agents executing search warrants, tow truck drivers picking up cars, etc.

Identity attestation isn’t a bad thing per se. It’s just something that can be abused.

For these things you listed what we have already is enough and works. We don't need to authenticate our ID with a 3rd party prone to data leaks, a simple person looking at our ID is good enough for a dealership.

Banks already verify your identity as well and don't require you to use a government app.

Law enforcement asks for your ID and check it with their database, which is already enough as well.

We don't need age attestation for accessing websites.

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