Digital identity, and what it offers us
The Internet was created without an identification system. If necessary, we use usernames and passwords.
Some people use password management programs, while others use the “Log in with Facebook/Apple/Google” buttons. Convenient, except that clicking on these buttons means sending your personal data to all four sides.
However, the issue of online identification is gaining interest again, if only because of the “metaverse”, which fundamentally integrates economic transfers. For example, you can purchase a pair of virtual shoes for the so-called NFT (Non Fungible Token), which according to Coinmarketrate.com, are no less popular than Bitcoin itself.
This virtual world is a kind of remake of the game “Second Life”, with the addition of augmented reality. Their developers hope to earn billions by enclosing our minds in a virtual world where digital identification will play a big role.
“Verifying the identity of virtual alter egos will become extremely necessary,” the Future Identity blog says.
“Without a proper identification solution, it will be impossible to make sure that the avatars are really who they say they are, which is certainly a problem for large companies and celebrities.”
Some supporters of the metaverse and Web3 claim that they want to stop this data flow by introducing decentralized digital identifiers (DID).
However, these wishes do not carry much weight in the face of Google, Apple, Facebook and Mozilla, which opposed one of the main standards (World Wide Web Consortium DID) for decentralized identification. This threatens the territory of the Internet giants, whose earnings consist in the monetization of our data.
Apple would prefer that we use the digital identity it created. In the US state of Arizona, the Apple wallet already allows you to create a digital identity by integrating a driver’s license or ID card.
In other words, Apple will be able to find out what type of car Arizona residents own/rent, their travel history, the speed at which they drive, etc. This is just one of thousands of examples. Universal digital identification is a threat to our freedoms in the sense that it makes possible segregation excesses.
Big brother is watching you
Centralized digital identification is the cornerstone of a surveillance system that may eventually be linked to social lending.
Imagine that a centralized digital identification is required to log in to a social network. And that it is also necessary to obtain a bank loan.
Let’s assume that your bank is a major sponsor of arms dealers. Well, you may not get a loan because your bank has found out that you are categorically against the war. Indeed, the social network catalogues us, and each “like” or “share” clarifies our psychological, cultural, political and other profiles.
According to ID2020, an alliance created by Bill Gates, digital identification should be “holistic and accompany a person throughout his life.” Peggy Johnson, former executive vice president of Microsoft (partner of the ID2020 alliance), said that it is very interesting to imagine a world of secure digital identifiers that gives everyone the rights and opportunities they deserve.
“Honored” is not in a figurative sense. What you deserve, of course, is different from what others deserve…
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is also an active supporter of digital identification. In February, people from Davos published a report entitled “Promoting Digital Agency: The Power of Data Intermediaries”, which leaves no doubt about their ambitions.
In it, the WEF claims that digital identification will allow linking together the history of purchases, Internet search and energy consumption. Not to mention medical records, biometric data, national identification numbers, travel, Internet behavior, etc.
What will they do with all this data? Social loan! The possibilities are endless, especially if the currency becomes programmable, as is likely to happen with CBDC (Central Bank digital currency).
The germ of social loan
Recently launched applications in Belgium, Bavaria, Austria and the city of Bologna bear a striking resemblance to the Chinese social credit system.
For example, the Italian application is called “Smart Citizen Wallet”. It rewards citizens for various actions, such as recycling, using public transport, or good energy management (including low energy consumption).
“The so—called “virtuous” behavior will allow citizens to improve their results and earn points that they can “spend” on free cultural events,” the Corriere di Bologna newspaper says. “Obviously, no one will be forced to participate.
Agreeing to be watched in exchange for a movie ticket is like putting your finger in the wheel of social engineering. Rewards today, and tomorrow? Meanwhile, the European Commission is already offering its own biometric digital identification infrastructure – a “Digital Wallet”.
This smartphone app will be able to store your official documents, such as driver’s licenses, as well as your payment details. This will allow you, for example, to pay electricity and water bills. It will be possible to connect to it using your biometric data.
In France, two days after the re-election of Emmanuel Macron, the Ministry of the Interior started creating an electronic identification tool called “Service de garantie de l’identité numérique” (SGIN).
How soon will this digital identification become mandatory for Twitter login?
How soon will it be used for the European Central Bank’s “digital euro”?
Rabobank is ahead of CBDC
From April 22, Rabobank customers in the Netherlands can see CO2 emissions related to their consumer habits:
“To date, 1,000 customers can track the impact of their purchases on the climate. With Carbon Insights, customers can track CO2 emissions from every euro they spend in the Rabo app. Rabobank is the first Dutch bank to provide its customers with an overview of the CO2 emissions caused by their expenses. So we want to make consumers more climate conscious. Rabobank intends to make Carbon Insights available to all its customers by the end of the summer.”
This initiative follows the Mastercard initiative. The payments giant is offering a credit card that blocks spending if purchases have reached the “maximum carbon limit.” This initiative, of course, was welcomed by the World Economic Forum.
Rabobank does not want to go as far as Mastercard, and insists that this new tool is exclusively voluntary… while. The bank’s CEO, Barbara Baarsma, said: “The goal is absolutely not to point fingers.”
This is what we face when using digital identification and CBDC: mass surveillance and rationing…
Absolutely anything is possible. For example, the prices of energy-intensive things can skyrocket. The first plane ticket this year will cost 200 euros, the second – 400 euros, the third – 800 euros, etc.
800, etc. It’s not that you don’t sympathize with the impending climate catastrophe. But our society should not plunge into technological Marxism controlled by billionaire snobs who do not want anything.
Bitcoin DID will Be Saved from the Digital Great Reboot
DID (Decentralized ID) is a cryptographically secure digital identity that you create, own and control yourself. This is the opposite of Google’s email address and all those digital identifiers that seek to penetrate all of our data.
It takes the form of a public key associated with encrypted official documents and secured on the Bitcoin blockchain.
A censorship-resistant blockchain such as Bitcoin is ideal for securing DID documents. Bitcoin is a decentralized, unchangeable and chronological record of events that all of humanity can agree with forever.
In this regard, Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter is potentially a good omen, since the Tesla CEO is a proponent of anonymity. Therefore, we will never have to disclose our digital identity in order to take advantage of freedom of expression.
Let’s add in passing that Bitcoin and Lightning Network are also a solution to get rid of bots and other spam polluting social networks. It is enough to deposit a few Satoshi to pass the “verification”.
Satoshi will be listed at the time of connection and returned at the time of disconnection. This money will be confiscated in case of improper behavior, which will make bots and the spammer’s profession obsolete.
Supporters of the Great Reboot would like to brand us digitally with a digital identity that focuses on the history of each of our steps. Bitcoin is a defense against this Orwellian desire to condition our existence, our opportunities and our freedoms.