The internet was built to connect machines, not people. Its basic architecture maps servers to domain names and uses cryptographic certificates to prove websites are authentic. Yet it lacks a built-in way to bridge the gap between our offline identities — citizen, taxpayer, patient, employee, student — and the digital systems on which we increasingly rely to conduct our economic, civic, and personal lives.
Thanks to the internet’s missing identity layer, online life has become a painful, repetitive hassle of lost passwords, security code texts, and cumbersome, invasive sign-ups. We cobble together credit records, blurry photos of driver’s licenses, awkward selfies, and security questions about our childhood pets. The experience is just awful, but it also doesn’t work — and it’s costing us.
