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Comment by JesseObrien

4 years ago

This article doesn't add up the points to anything that solves for the given problem. Owning identity isn't solved by saying "don't trust ${third party}! Come trust ${my preferred third party}, it's better!" Any blockchain is still a third party that all parties involved with need to place trust in. It isn't somehow more or less trustworthy just because it exists.

> Many people, including myself, believe that the individual should be able to own their own identity.

Yes, this is nice wishful thinking, but on a global scale it's not really possible or feasible.

> OAuth2 should be used for what it was intended to, which is for a web service to provide another web service with a user’s data given that user’s consent. It should not be used as a global digital identifier because that’s too important to be owned by anyone but the individual themselves.

So, instead of OAuth being in the hands of FAANG[1] it's in the hands of ${blockchain-of-the-year}? How does moving the trust from a centralized company to a centralized blockchain change MY ownership? If I move everything away from FAANG to someone's blockchain, I have no assurance that chain will continue existing. If there's a flaw found in it and everyone moves to another chain, now what? Sure, we can make the same claim about FAANG not continuing to exist, but the point is there's no inherent advantage here, they're equal. FAANG are supported by millions of individuals and companies that are all, together invested in their success. There's no unilateral agreement on blockchains and I doubt there ever will be.

>With social recovery, instead of having to trust Google, you can choose who you trust, and instead trust a given set of friends, family, and services.

Again with the trust this and not that. All of my friends, family and other services need to then agree that they're all going to trust ${chain} instead of FAANG. It doesn't fix the problem. "the blockchain" isn't just one thing. Who's chain do we all shift trust to and from and based on what security? At least with Google I can rely on their security because if they end up with a breach of trust it's going to have a massive, real impact on share prices and consumer trust around the globe. That's incentive enough for me to rely on it day-to-day.

This article has some interesting tidbits but overall seems like just a baseless rally against FAANG by someone who knows very little about complex authentication or trust and security in the real world.

[1]https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/faang-stocks.asp

A properly decentralized blockchain isn't a third party in the traditional sense, a human or organization that is bound to follow its agreements until it doesn't feel like it anymore. It's an algorithm incarnated.

That said, its initial and continued existence is dependent on economics. Who will market a service that they don't stand to profit from? Who will drive large organizations to invest in infrastructure that doesn't improve their profits? Either no one will, or it will be adulterated in the process. Sadly the community spirit that drove a lot of early internet development seems to be lost.