> Now that I had a completely innocuous, completely non-infringing account created, it was necessary to have that account reported. On August 4, 2011, we did just that.
Simple steps to get a Google+ account, using a fake name:
1) Choose a name that doesn't have multiple Wikipedia entries. [1]
2) Do not report your own account as fake.
Following those 2 simple rules, I was able to maintain multiple Facebook profiles for years. I doubt Google+ is any harder to game than Facebook.
I was able to maintain multiple Facebook profiles for years.
That's hardly good enough. The Library of Alexandria was able to not burn down for years.
Tomorrow Facebook may catch on to you, and then most of your Facebook profiles will be gone. Hope there's nothing in there you wanted to keep.
Google is very clearly reserving the right to demand ID from us at any time in the future, and to delete our profiles if that ID doesn't satisfy them. Just because they are very undemanding, easy to satisfy, and easy to spoof today doesn't mean they won't get stricter tomorrow. And then our fake names, and all their associated data, and all their friends and reputations, and perhaps even all the data from associated accounts... will be gone. I fail to see how it's a feature that Google will give me plenty of time to accumulate precious things in my account before they get around to summarily deleting it.
>Things could get harder the day governments start issuing cryptographic IDs (like, say, a smartcard which Google can query remotely).
Some already are. My citizen card (Portugal) already contains a public-private key pair that I can use to log in to online governmental services.
I'm not sure if there's a service available for third-parties to check someone's identity, though.
No, it's easy to get a valid "fake" ID. All you need is a birth certificate, which is a paper document with no authentication features, and a utility bill, which is a paper document with no authentication features. Government-issued IDs are as worthless as anything else the government produces. The only value they have is that you'll have to pay a fine if they catch you with the fake birth certificate. Which is highly unlikely.
These days you'll probably need a valid SSN that maps to the name you want to use as well. Good luck accomplishing that without ripping off someone else's identity.
You can get a new SSN with the following documents, according to the SSA's website:
Employee ID card;
School ID card;
Health insurance card (not a Medicare card);
U.S. military ID card;
Adoption decree;
Life insurance policy; or
Marriage document (only in name change situations).
I'm pretty sure you're wrong, based on the work of Gary Walker:
http://gewalker.blogspot.com/2011/08/firsthand-examination-o...
as reported by Charlie Stross:
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2011/08/why-im-n...
"Send a poison pen email and you can get an account suspended until the owner verifies their identity by sending a scan of some ID."