Policy-Discussion

[Duane <duane AT cacert.org>]

Ian G wrote:

> On one side, the birth date is often found in the ID docs so 
> it creates a better match to the documents themselves.  That 
> makes Assurance more "positive."  ... but it represents a 

As I wrote the other day, we collect 3 pieces of information that by 
itself isn't always or even very unique, on the other hand all 3 pieces 
of information together is much more unique.

CAcert's main feature isn't providing certificates verified 
certificates, this is an accident by design, the main feature is being 
able to utilise the information stored on people to issue verified 
documents, while it's certificates today, it could be whatever the next 
whiz bang digital thing is tomorrow.

> practice of recording some number on the passport in order 
> to make it more accurate;  whereas passport numbers and 
> passport photocopies are deliberately not recorded. 
> Certainly a passport or Id number would be far better if the 
> goal were uniqueness.

We used to store this, however the argument against this is it might be 
easy for some to show a fake document now proving an identity, but 5 or 
10 years from now how easy will it be to prove the same thing?

Not to mention the numbers on documents can change for several reasons, 
and may not be unique even within the same system. eg SSNs are or will 
be reused at some point, 1 billion numbers isn't enough to cover a 
living population of over 300 million.

--

Best regards,
 Duane

http://www.cacert.org - Free Security Certificates
http://www.nodedb.com - Think globally, network locally
http://www.sydneywireless.com - Telecommunications Freedom
http://e164.org - Because e164.arpa is a tax on VoIP

"In the long run the pessimist may be proved right,
    but the optimist has a better time on the trip."