Uniqueness and "is-a-person" credentials

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

Carl Ellison writes:

> I see no way to guarantee uniqueness of the person unless you manage to
> incorporate some unique characteristic of a person (right hand print, for
> example) into a digital signature.
> 
> PEM's key certificates might be an attempt to guarantee uniqueness but even
> there I can cheat by having a second job under a second name, for example,
> and getting a certificate in both.

I don't know if we've ever talked on this list about the "is-a-person"
protocols discussed in several "Crypto" papers, namely, the
Fiat-Shamir passport scheme for credentialling persons, the ability to spoof
with the complicity of states (e.g., Libya conspires to create false
"is-a-person" passports for its agents), etc.

I don't like the idea of state-run registries of "legal persons."
Better to live with the occasional vagaries of digital pseuodonyms
than to ban them.

(And multiple identies can have many uses, some good, some not.
Welcome to the future.)

Since it may touch on our "cypherpunks agenda," I plan to read up on
some of these proposals for "is-a-person" credentialling and see how
they might relate to schemes for centralized key registration or escrow.

Any suggestion besides the "Crypto" proceedings?

--Tim May

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