There's two separate but related issues that the article and comments here are merging together: identification & authentication
The problem of identification, which is assigning a unique identity to each human being, has pretty much been solved. You have names, emails, id cards, really any unique string or number that's tied to a human being. It's not flawless, but in theory it works.
The real issue is authenticating an identity, how do you know the person is actually who they claim to be? This is one of the biggest issues facing modern technology, and it has not been solved. We generally use a combination of passwords, geolocation, IP addresses, emails, phone numbers, security tokens and certificates to create systems that are "good enough". However, these systems are regularly breached, and tightening their security generally has a negative effect on legitimate users.
The problem of identification, which is assigning a unique identity to each human being, has pretty much been solved. You have names, emails, id cards, really any unique string or number that's tied to a human being. It's not flawless, but in theory it works.
The real issue is authenticating an identity, how do you know the person is actually who they claim to be? This is one of the biggest issues facing modern technology, and it has not been solved. We generally use a combination of passwords, geolocation, IP addresses, emails, phone numbers, security tokens and certificates to create systems that are "good enough". However, these systems are regularly breached, and tightening their security generally has a negative effect on legitimate users.