I'm gonna be real, we do need an actual id system in the US. Right now we treat social security numbers like one, but they're extremely insecure.

We're going to have a number either way, may as well have one that isn't as easy for scammers to steal.

Luckily we haven't seen bad actors put in charge of the post office, doing unethical things, so all good here, nothing to see.

You know what would be great? Low-barrier non-predatory banking services for low-income people provided by the post office like basically every other country has.

This article is a mess. I did find another one that explains a little more here.

Ron Wyden has a really good record on privacy, free speech and digital rights, here's an unrelated post where the Electronic Frontier Foundation is interviewing him.

I do think with advancement in deep fake video and audio, verifying that you're talking to who you think you're talking to is going to become a big challenge. This bill seems to be addressing that - physically going somewhere to verify your Identity. And better for that to be an official government agency than a corporation who will charge who knows what and do who knows what with the data.

Another concept of verifying identity that I haven't heard much about lately is the web of trust. People can verify other people they know and trust, and then they can vouch for second or third connections who you have not verified yet. Trouble is it can seem convoluted to people who aren't familiar, and requires adoption from many people before it becomes useful. If the government just says "this is a thing we're doing" then much more likely to be adopted.

Nothing in that bill talks about biometrics.

This is step one in building towards a CBDC (central bank digital currency) where the government can see every transaction you make regardless of size and without any legal justification to access that data. It's the end of privacy and enables turnkey fascism. Programmable money that not only lets them see all your transactions, but can stop you from spending money at certain places or in certain ways. It would integrate easily with a social credit score system.

Imagine a government you don't want in charge having that kind of power and insight. Imagine a government which already broadly abuses civil forfeiture laws now having that much control over the actual currency. Surprised to see Wyden being the sponsor of this bill, he has a long history of standing for people's right to privacy.

Edit: I understand why we need a nationally-recognized ID system and why SSNs are terrible. I am just very inherently skeptical of anything that grants more power to the government, especially when there is a decent chance a government which intends to take away rights like abortion and freedom to even discuss the existence of non-straight people currently has control of the supreme court and may very well win the next presidential race.