Re: using PGP only for digital signatures

>> Consider this: most people in the U.S. do not have a "credential" that
>> shows them to be U.S. citizens. (Hint: most people in the U.S. do not have
>> passports.)

My passport is always close at hand.  I love an unchallengeable credential
that has neither my address nor my SS# on it.  I also carry my birth
certificate which I use for most non-driving interactions.  It doesn't have
much useful info on it.  Secured credit cards which can be obtained in any
name are also handy.  

>A green card, by itself, also fails to prove legal status.

Don't "green cards" have pictures now.  If they do they should be usable to
prove both status and identity.  I'm talking about the new "renewable" ones.

>Proving legal residency requires a combination of two documents, one each
>from specified lists. Most commonly a driver's license, green card (which
>is actually pink), or birth certificate from list A, and a social
>security card from list B. 

You need proof of citizenship or residency and proof of identity.  Passport
and naturalization papers work for both.  Otherwise you have to pay the $25
to the guy on the corner for a birth certificate and drivers license.  Or
DTP it yourself since employers aren't very good at checking papers.  Or
dodge the whole thing and work for yourself.

DCF

"Who am us, anyway?"

On Sun, 5 Nov 1995, Duncan Frissell wrote:

> >> Consider this: most people in the U.S. do not have a "credential" that
> >> shows them to be U.S. citizens. (Hint: most people in the U.S. do not have
> >> passports.)
> 
> My passport is always close at hand.  I love an unchallengeable credential
> that has neither my address nor my SS# on it.  I also carry my birth
> certificate which I use for most non-driving interactions.  It doesn't have
> much useful info on it.  Secured credit cards which can be obtained in any
> name are also handy.  

I have often found and come across considerable problems using a 
passport, local or foreign, as identification.  Many estlablishments 
simply refuse to accept them, as if they are inferior somehow to the 
non-standardized frequently forged allmighty driver's license.  This is 
mostly ignorance and a lack of common reference, as few americans 
actually HAVE these documents, or have even SEEN them.  (No, I'm not 
kidding).  I found this particularly distressing in D.C.  To some degree 
it's institutional, where recording a "drivers license number" on some 
form becomes problematic for the $5.50 and hour clerk who can't find the 
field "driver's license number" anywhere on the passport.

While I just take my business elsewhere when that is possible, I think 
it's interesting to note how desperatly people cling to the social 
security number and completely inept identifications like state issued 
licenses as if to let go would mean a decent into the bleeding hell of 
anarchy.  (In its popularly assumed and feared form)


---
"In fact, had Bancroft not existed,       potestas scientiae in usu est
Franklin might have had to invent him."    in nihilum nil posse reverti
00B9289C28DC0E55  E16D5378B81E1C96 - Finger for Current Key Information

Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com> writes:
> >Proving legal residency requires a combination of two documents, one each
> >from specified lists. Most commonly a driver's license, green card (which
> >is actually pink), or birth certificate from list A, and a social
> >security card from list B.
>
> You need proof of citizenship or residency and proof of identity.  Passport
> and naturalization papers work for both.  Otherwise you have to pay the $25
> to the guy on the corner for a birth certificate and drivers license.  Or
> DTP it yourself since employers aren't very good at checking papers.  Or
> dodge the whole thing and work for yourself.

I've had to deal with I-9 twice in the last 6 months; both times they happily
accepted my U.S.Passport as both the proof of identity and the proof of work
authorization. The naturalization certificate is a little tricky because it's
not supposed to be photocopied. I suppose the h.r. would take it (because it's
listed on the I-9) and photocopy it despite the warning on it. :)

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Dr. Dimitri Vulis
Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps