Memdeklaro - Self declaration of identity (https://memdeklaro.org/) empowers people to self-declare their own identity, without third parties, surveillance or censorship. Aiming to present an alternative to the exclusionary state monopoly on identity, Memdeklaro is accessible to everyone, and is a non-government and non-corporate project, similar to Garry Davis’s World Passport and Digitalcourage’s ID with self-chosen data. Memdeklaro’s self declaration generator, ebook, presentation and webpage are in the public domain: https://github.com/memdeklaro
The ambitiousness and “in-your-face” qualities of this project are to my liking. On the other hand, I can’t see serious applications.
Identity documents are mostly based on the trust projected on the issuing authority. The current approach is to seek alternatives with blockchains, commonly called digital identity. The EU is currently seeking a similar solution, with a sovereign blockchain infrastructure called EBSI.
Of course this does not solve most of the real and serious problems with identity documents. People without formal identification is an ongoing crisis in many countries. The author also makes good points about abusive parents one might want to disassociate from. But issuing your own identity does not solve these problems.
The key difference is the web of trust implied in each case. State entities trust other state entities about these documents, and they can use their infrastructure to tokenize this trust. It was never about the document itself.
But building an alternative web of trust? This goes solidly into crypto territory, and it will never catch up due to the connotations. Now, if the issuing authority was a federation of worker councils, that would be a different story.