Re: using OpenPGP notations to indicate keysigning practices
Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> writes:
> Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org> writes:
>> For example, I think US drivers' licenses are only verifiable by
>> someone who's lived in that state or otherwise seen drivers' licenses
>> from that state. I really dislike seeing people use them at key
>> signings and would rather see people use passports.
> Presumably this is because the identity checking for a passport is
> much more careful and strict than for a driver's license.
Not really. It's more that every state issues very different driver's
licenses, so unless you're familiar with it or have a manual it's very
hard to verify it. Whereas a US passport looks quite a bit like a
passport from many other countries, with the fairly common booklet-style
layout. It also always has a picture with forgery protection, whereas
some state driver's licenses are very, very low-security.
>> I suspect you're going to see a ton of them in the 2010 Debconf key
>> signing, though, since a lot of people in the US simply never bother
>> to get a passport.
> Presumably this is because the identity checking for a passport is much
> more careful and strict than fro a driver's license.
No, almost definitely not, speaking as a US citizen. The identity
checking is pretty much identical to what's required to get a driver's
license. It's more because very few people in the US ever travel
internationally, and getting a passport costs a reasonable amount of
money and is a hassle. So people just don't bother.
It was even worse when one could travel to and from Canada and Mexico
without a passport. Then to a first approximation only richer people
who vacationed in Europe ever bothered.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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