Your phone number has become You…..

Driving the news: Facebook faced criticism this week for its handling of phone numbers that users provide for the purpose of two-factor authentication (2FA) — in which a person’s login is protected by both a password and a device like their smartphone.

• Some users found Facebook had enabled people to connect their profiles and phone numbers, transforming 2FA from a way to protect personal security into a personal privacy breach.
• Facebook pointed to a privacy control option that allows users to limit, but not entirely eliminate, this sort of identification.

The big picture: American culture and law are hostile to establishing any sort of national ID, leaving businesses and organizations to find substitutes.

• Passports don’t work for non-citizens, and drivers’ licenses are handled by states.
• Social Security numbers were created to track workers’ contributions to retirement benefits but gradually got drafted for other uses by, among others, the IRS and the health care system.
• Many Americans try to avoid broadcasting SSNs online. But now people have to share them with so many institutions and clerks that there’s very little that’s truly secret about them.

Background: The internet lacks its own identity system. Email addresses were long a popular but imperfect choice.

• Each address is unique and, once verified, is useful for receiving information intended only for you.
• But email is an insecure system, ridden with spam, and once the addresses became essentially free it became easy for one person to use many accounts or quickly switch to new ones.

What’s next: Cellphone numbers are becoming Americans’ latest quasi-identity system….

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image….Sarah Grillo/Axios