[paulryanrogers]

> Governments (and a few companies) really want this.

The cynic in me fears they don't want a privacy-preserving solution, which blinds them to 'who'. Because that would satisfy parents worried about their kids and many privacy conscious folks.

Rather, they want a blank check to blackmail or imprison only their opponents.

[phendrenad2]

I think Larry (not, not that Larry, the other one) spilled the beans in 2024:

"Citizens will be on their best behavior, because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on" - Larry Ellison

(I seem to recall from the context of the quote, he isn't saying this is the future he wants, but it's a future he's not particularly opposed to)

But the real threat is "accidental" database leaks from private websites. Let's say you live in a state where abortion isn't legal, and you sign up for a web forum where people discuss getting out-of-state abortions. As soon as that website is required to collect real names (which it will be), it becomes unusable, because nobody can risk getting doxxed.

[hellojesus]

Maybe the US gov needs more tor users and is therefore doing this to drive more traffic to the onion network.

[mcmcmc]

That’s not cynicism, it’s reality.

[anjel]

Add to this that more and more sites and services are hostile to VPN connections and obfuscated email address for account registration. Worse still is that for existing accounts introducing ID req'ts, the next step in these changes is your prior anonymous activity could easily become a retro-liablit.y

[throw__away7391]

This is not a cynical take, it is blindingly obvious. Right now, governments around the world are watching, salivating over what is effectively remote control over the literal thoughts of and total surveillance over their entire population. They are itching insatiably to get control over these systems.

[klsdjfdlkfjsd]

In my state, I caught a circuit court judge shilling on a certain well known "social media" site for the establishment of a lottery in our state. He framed it as a "We the People vs the corrupt politicians" issue--with him being firmly on the side of We the People of course.

When I challenged him on his rhetoric, my comment INSTANTLY disappeared. I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I tried again, and the next comment insta-disappeared also.

Soon thereafter I was locked out of the account and asked to provide a "selfie" to confirm my identity. (I declined.)