How We Do Identity Wrong
summary
Claim: identity fields are wrong by design — systems ask unnecessary questions, serialize names and genders poorly, and leak long-lived data. Evidence: Django user model is broken for international names, Facebook mixes good gender options with a harmful real-name policy, archivists use a fuzzy date schema for uncertain birthdates, and breaches show emails on Have I Been Pwned; legal risk is real with fines up to 20 million euros or 4% turnover. Practical fixes: store a single casual display name, separate government ID schema, full Unicode support, allow custom pronouns, and avoid collecting data unless needed.
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chapters (18)
- 0:00Start
- 1:06External Attributes
- 2:02What do we store?
- 2:48What is immutable?
- 3:31What makes a name?
- 6:02Common Naming Assumptions
- 6:52The Mutability of Names
- 7:17How do we store them?
- 9:07Extracting Name Portions
- 10:34Why would you want to ask?
- 11:07How do you ask?
- 13:00Address Formats
- 14:17Data is Dangerous
- 15:01Data is Expensive
- 15:31You Can't Protect It
- 18:02Your Software Is Made To Help
- 18:28Software Is Non-Optional
- 20:07The Golden Rule
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