The National ID Nobody Voted For
5 hours ago
- After 9/11, a national ID proposal was rejected due to privacy concerns; now Login.gov is quietly becoming a de facto national identity system without public debate.
- Login.gov has grown to 180 million accounts across 700 services, and is being mandated for all federal agencies, centralizing identity verification and access decisions.
- Greg Hogan, a former comma.ai executive, built the system used by Elon Musk to threaten federal workers; a judge found his testimony not credible regarding unauthorized access.
- India's Aadhaar system shows how an identity system can become mandatory and lead to denial of services when technical failures occur, as seen with Santoshi Kumari's death.
- Login.gov added a non-biometric verification pathway that allows a stranger's 'suspected fraud' label to be stored and shared without the user's knowledge.
- Device fingerprinting with a 20-year cookie was added without privacy notice, and the government is exploring technology to bypass VPNs and private browsing.
- No legislation or hearings have been held; the system expands through administrative orders, making it difficult for the public to challenge or understand its implications.