Is REAL ID Already Outdated?

We made it through months of wedding planning without ever raising our voices. We negotiated the invitations with laughter and joy. We calmly made our way through the wedding rehearsal, and the ceremony and reception went off without a hitch.

Now we were newlyweds.

All that was left was to go on our honeymoon. What could possibly go wrong?

It was smooth sailing from here…

That is, until we got to the airport and realized my wife’s passport had expired.

Thankfully, with express passport services and a rather egregious one-time charge of $700, our honeymoon was only delayed one day.

It’s a scary moment when you realize you might be locked out of a trip because of a simple oversight.

Unfortunately, this moment is bound to happen to many Americans over the coming months.

Because starting today, every traveler in the U.S. aged 18 and older is supposed to need a REAL ID-compliant form of identification to fly domestically.

According to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), around 81% of travelers currently have compliant IDs.

That means millions still don’t.

So what is this REAL ID anyway?

It’s part of a national effort that began after 9/11 to create a more uniform, secure system of state-issued IDs. The idea was to tighten the standards for issuing driver’s licenses and to make identity verification more secure and consistent across all 50 states.

And it’s a good idea. But here’s the thing…

REAL ID isn’t actually a digital identity system. It’s just a harder-to-fake physical card.

In other words, it’s a 20th-century solution for a 21st-century problem.

Look, I think it’s great that the U.S. is pushing for a more centralized, top-down approach to identity verification.

But I believe we’re missing out on a better, more secure way to make sure we are all who we say we are.

It’s called Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), and it should reshape the way we approach identity verification in the digital age.

A New Identity

To understand the promise of Self-Sovereign Identity, it’ll help if we first take a look at the problems we’ve inherited from the systems we use today.

In a centralized model — whether it’s the DMV, Facebook, your bank or a government agency — your identity is stored, controlled and shared by someone else.

In other words, your data lives on their servers. Which means they get to decide who sees what… and when.

Obviously, this comes with risks, especially as data breaches become more routine.

According to Statista.com, over 1.35 billion individuals were affected by data compromises, including data breaches, leakage and exposure in 2024.

That is a 283% increase from the year before.

And since your personal data is scattered across dozens of platforms, each one is a potential point of failure.

That’s why verifying someone’s identity often requires multiple third parties. But all that does is slow everything down and create even more opportunities for fraud.

REAL ID doesn’t fix these problems.

It doesn’t give you control over your own data, and it doesn’t work online. All it does is add another piece to the patchwork of potential points of failure.

That’s why I’m a proponent of Self-Sovereign Identity. Because with SSI, the idea is that instead of relying on institutions to define and store your identity, you carry it with you.

In other words, you own and control your digital identity.

Here’s how it works.

You’re given your own unique Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs), which are blockchain-based IDs that you control.

You also have Verifiable Credentials (VCs), which are digitally signed credentials from trusted issuers that can be instantly verified without revealing sensitive info. These are things like a university degree or a COVID vaccination.

But this data no longer needs to be stored on a company or government server.

Instead, it’s held in a secure digital wallet similar to a crypto wallet. Except this one holds your personal data.

That means your credentials aren’t locked to one platform or country. You can use them across borders and across services. In many cases, you can even use them offline.

That makes your data portable and private. And it also makes it secure because you decide who gets to see what.

Want to verify you’re over 21? You can do that without showing your birthdate or address.

In fact, you can prove any facts about yourself, like your citizenship or work qualifications, without exposing any more than is necessary.

And I want to be clear. This isn’t some pie-in-the-sky idea.

We have all the pieces to make this work.

The global market for digital credential management software is expected to nearly double from 2024 to 2029.

And other governments are already starting to move forward with SSI programs.

In 2023, the European Union approved its framework for a Digital Identity Wallet, which will allow all EU citizens to use SSI-based credentials for services across member states.

And China has launched its own version, RealDID, designed to let users authenticate online services using decentralized identifiers while still keeping government oversight.

What’s more, we’ve seen the practical application of this kind of program in the real world.

The UN World Food Programme implemented a successful blockchain-based identity system to help Syrian refugees in Jordan receive food aid without needing a government-issued ID.

Meanwhile, here in the U.S. we’re still issuing plastic ID cards.

Here’s My Take

If you haven’t “upgraded” to a REAL ID yet, you’re not alone.

Many folks are planning on using their passports instead when they travel domestically.

And just yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Kristi Noem, announced that travelers without the document would face additional screening today but would still be allowed to fly.

I look at REAL ID as a missed opportunity.

Sure, it can get you through the TSA, but SSI could take you through to the next level of identity verification…

From centralized control to individual ownership.

Because in an increasingly digital economy, you’ll want to be the one holding the keys to your own identity.

Regards,

Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing

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