Coming to a website near you this summer: the European Commission is close to a ‘solution’ that could force people to use their government-issued ID to get online. EDRi and EFF’s concerns about threats to everyone’s privacy and data protection, a chilling effect on access to information, and digital exclusion – harming the already most marginalised in society - remain unsolved.
I preferred the pre-tech “phonebook” stage where all you had was your name (and whatever else was attached to it based on one’s own behaviour).
But that’s also what we had in early 00s. A bunch of emails, a bunch of ICQ numbers, other such things, but ultimately your only persona to contact with others was your real one.