Pull my other Clegg
Responding to a commentor on his Facebook feed, Zuckerberg said Meta "already [provides] protections and some support for everyone. But verifying government IDs and providing direct access to customer support for millions or billions of people costs a significant amount of money.
Once upon a time, the UK dabbled with ID Cards, and 'Trusted Identity' schemes. Some worked, some didn't, creeping compulsion remains and for some government services, you can sign in with your FaceMelta or AlphaGoo account. This was quick, easy, and free. The only cost being requiring one of those accounts, and allowing the data rapists even more visibility into your life.
Governments pay big tech for these services, but as always, they want more. Who are you? What are you doing? Stop it at once or you'll go blind and cost the NHS a fortune!
So we got this-
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-legislation-set-to-make-digital-identities-more-trustworthy-and-secure
For example, if a person wants to prove they are over 18 to buy age-restricted products, they could create a digital identity with a trusted organisation by sharing personal information such as their name and date of birth. This digital identity could then be used to prove to a retailer they are over-18, without the need to reveal the personal information used to create the digital identity, boosting users’ privacy, unlike physical documents which may disclose date of birth, name and address.
The ODIA will have the power to issue an easily recognised trustmark to certified digital identity organisations, to prove they meet the security and privacy standards needed to handle people’s data in a safe and consistent way.
Sadly, ID Cards have never gone away, and lobbying for them hasn't either. ID Cards were sold to the public by telling us it would 'make our lives easier' to do stuff we were already used to doing. We could buy booze by flashing our card, and that transaction could be logged for future use. We could surf pron, and that transaction will be logged for future use.
So now we'll soon be able to have our transactions logged by presenting our 'smart' surveillance devices, which means Apple, AlphaGoo, FaceMelta etc will be able to flog trusted identity data to their partners and advertisers.
All it'll cost you is $12-$15 a month! A small price to pay to help Big Tech prove to their customers that you're not a bot account, and their ad-slinging tech is worth it, because you're worth it. Unless you don't have a compatible Digital Lifestyle Assistant following you everywhere. Then you're just SoL and won't be able to do stuff because, well, you can't be trusted. It's proposed legislation after all, so it'll be harder to avoid.
So far from costing poor lil Zuck money, policy proposals like this stand to make him a lot of money. Which is ironic given recent events show that a lot of 'Big Tech' just can't be trusted.