Why I Changed My Mind About Online ID Verification
It wouldn’t affect privacy much and can prevent election interference.
By Mark Weinstein, WSJ
Sept. 19, 2023 5:30 pm ET
Microsoft analysts have uncovered a network of fake social-media accounts affiliated with China’s Communist Party, according to a Sept. 7 company report. The accounts, masquerading as U.S. voters, were using artificial intelligence-generated images to spread divisive propaganda. Chinese, Russian and Iranian operatives used similar “bot farms”—networks of fake accounts—to interfere in the 2022 and earlier elections. Russian government operatives earlier this year boasted that social networks detect only 1% of their fake accounts.
In light of this threat to democracy, those concerned about counterfeit accounts are increasingly calling for true user verification, or “Real ID,” on social media. American social-media giants are slowly moving in that direction too. This month Twitter started allowing users to submit government-issued IDs to verify their accounts. Meta did the same thing for Facebook and Instagram earlier in the year. But both systems are voluntary and charge a fee.
I’ve previously spoken out against the idea. A decade ago, as a steering committee member of the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace and the Identity Ecosystem Steering Group, I argued against a proposed national identity system as a violation of privacy.
But I’ve changed my mind, in part because privacy as we once knew it no longer exists. Social-media platforms, along with other Big Tech companies such as Google, Apple and Microsoft, collect and store vast repositories of our data, including emails, text messages, call logs, photos, documents, calendars, friend lists, locations, finances—you name it. Much of this data is already available to law enforcement and government officials. The Edward Snowden revelations in 2013 exposed our government’s mass surveillance practices, not only of suspected terrorists and lawbreakers but also of millions of private individuals.
Thanks to the Cambridge Analytica breach in 2018, it is estimated that 5,000 data points on every U.S. voter are already circulating online. But tracing someone’s identity doesn’t require nearly that many data points. Massachusetts Institute of Technology research on credit-card purchases has shown that it takes four basic data points on transaction dates and locations to identify 90% of people in a pool of 1.1 million people.
It’s time to stop pretending that our true identities are secret on the web. Instead, let’s put what companies and authorities already know to good use while protecting our privacy in every way we can.
Real ID verification is the best way to minimize election interference. Lawmakers should propose narrow federal legislation requiring large social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to implement mandatory Real ID with the sole purpose of verifying users as real people.
The system shouldn’t collect additional data on users beyond the minimum necessary information for verification, and users should still have control over what information they share publicly, such as their ages and jobs.
Real ID would promote more authentic civil discourse on social media and help deter online misinformation, harassment and hate, much of which comes from bots and other fake accounts. It’s also likely the best solution to protect children under 13 from the harms of social media—by keeping them out.
Rather than having verification systems nest exclusively within the government’s domain, Real ID legislation should also give social-media companies the option to create their own verification systems or allow third-party vendors to participate.
Users who prefer anonymity could set up pseudonymous accounts, which would be labeled as such. Their real identities wouldn’t be traceable by other users, but the web platforms’ operators would know and could take rapid action against abusive accounts.
Despite its flaws, mandatory Real ID verification is the best way we can prevent election interference and put ourselves on the path of authentic civil discourse.
Mr. Weinstein is founder of the social network MeWe.
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