Multiple passwords, IDs have become gatekeepers of modern life – is there a simpler solution?

In December 2018, Gerald Cotten, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Quadriga CX, died at the age of 30 while on his honeymoon in India – and with him vanished the only keys to access $145 million worth of cryptocurrency held for customers.

Court documents filed by Cotten’s widow said he had encrypted information related to the operations of his cryptocurrency exchange and that she did not have any of his passwords. Though investigators later concluded that Cotten had been running a ponzi scheme, his widow claimed she knew nothing about his business activities.

Though Cotten may have taken his passwords to the grave (conspiracy theories claim he is alive), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman RS Sharma was far less guarded about revealing personal information to the world – to his peril.

In July 2018, Sharma posted his Aadhaar number online in an attempt to demonstrate that the government-run identity system was so secure, no problems would arise if such details became public. It did not take long for social media users to use it to dig up his income tax personal account number, age, alternate phone number and other private information.

Modern life revolves around dozens of passwords that simplify myriad tasks, which might otherwise have taken much longer....

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