I would guess it's more expensive than generating certs - all those ID verification "AI" services use teams of people as a fallback from what I know

Not sure why this was downvoted. It was a serious question. The countries I've lived all have digital ID services since a decade ago.

And no I'm not talking about govt ID or a card. I'm talking about a digital identity you log into and then oauth into other govt services like the tax office or healthcare systems.

The UK is notorious for not having ID cards. That's a solved problem in every other developed country as far as I know.

The reason behind it is privacy (lol, considering their total failure and unwillingness to enforce the GDPR) and yet they are totally fine with the tax office having the same database and information (which is no doubt accessible to law enforcement).

>That's a solved problem in every other developed country as far as I know.

Did you just call the US underdeveloped? :P

But seriously, the US does not have a standardized "ID card" either. They have things like passports (which not that many people have), state-issued driver's licenses (so 50+ different ones, not sure how it's handled in all the non-state areas like Guam or Puerto Rico), social security numbers (which aren't exactly ID either), birth certificates, voter id cards (for people without a driver's license), and a slew of other things the government and businesses will accept under certain circumstances. What they do not have is a nation id card.

>voter id cards (for people without a driver's license)

You mean State ID cards? They're used for much more than voting.

The UK does have state-issued ID cards: Passports. Are you a UK person that wants to operate on the "international internet"? Get yourself a UK passport! :)