It is not an actual means of identifying an individual and it is part of ensuring a reasonable amount of privacy for the user.
Technically. Yes, I think that anyone who understands the technology agrees with this. The problem is that the courts are enforcing it as if it were the digital equivalent of a photo id, and this is not a small problem.
Well yes we all know legislators and the judicial system do a horrific job of understanding these fundamental differences between the real world and the computer world.
What really worries me is when someone on HN talks the same way.
Technically. Yes, I think that anyone who understands the technology agrees with this. The problem is that the courts are enforcing it as if it were the digital equivalent of a photo id, and this is not a small problem.