While obviously requiring real-world ID verification will reduce privacy, is there really any actual privacy left on today's internet? Every company from your ISP to Google to every vendor you shop at can read your browser fingerprint and IP address, which in most cases is enough to uniquely identify you. For serious privacy-concerned users there are ways around all of this but the vast majority of internet users don't really seem to care. What additional level of privacy reduction do the ID-based plans cause beyond what we already have today?
> While obviously requiring real-world ID verification will reduce privacy, is there really any actual privacy left on today's internet?
Privacy is not an on and off switch or an all or nothing. You have to defend the privacy you have and also fight to expand it as a human right.
I agree. Also, it's not like the whole internet will be under ID check. One can still opt out and don't use the main stream social media? My hope is that ID check is targeting never ending feeds of crappy content.
That said, I am very concerned about how things work privacy wise today (even without ID check).
If everyone else jumps off a bridge, do you want to be forced to jump off a bridge?
The privacy tools that are working today will be much easier to block. Hence, any activists and journalists that the government dislikes will become even more vulnerable. We need to fight this and not give up.