The Good Tech Companies - One Identity Everywhere: Why Digital Identity Is the Missing Infrastructure Layer in Tech

Episode Date: July 16, 2025

This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/one-identity-everywhere-why-digital-identity-is-the-missing-infrastructure-layer-in-tech. Learn why privacy-first digital identity is vital infrastructure, not just compliance, & what’s next for trust online. Check more stories related to cybersecurity at: https://hackernoon.com/c/cybersecurity. You can also check exclusive content about #online-identity-verification, #privacy-first-identity, #tracer-labs-trust-id, #identity-compliance-solutions, #age-verification-laws, #interoperable-identity-system, #user-held-credentials, #good-company, and more. This story was written by: @lightyearstrategies. Learn more about this writer by checking @lightyearstrategies's about page, and for more stories, please visit hackernoon.com. Digital identity online is broken—fragmented, invasive, and inefficient. Tracer Labs' Trust ID offers a privacy-first, portable solution to replace today’s surveillance-based systems. As laws tighten and users demand better, shared identity infrastructure is becoming as essential as payments once were. The future of trust depends on it.

This audio is presented by Hacker Noon, where anyone can learn anything about any technology. One identity everywhere. Why digital identity is the missing infrastructure layer in tech, by Lightyear Strategies. The internet was never built with identity in mind. In 2025, that omission is becoming catastrophic. From state-level age verification mandates to rampant fraud and trust breakdowns, the digital economy is coming undone at its seams. Websites now ask for passport uploads to view adult content, biometric scans gate access to gaming and creator platforms, and any app catering to regulated industries ice-way down by fragmented, jurisdiction-specific compliance logic.

We are living in a world of copy-pasted identity forums, siloed databases, and—verify once, forget never—polices. The problem? There is no shared, privacy-respecting way to prove who you are online. i. A patchwork that no longer works the current identity ecosystem online is fragile and fragmented. Most platforms handle identity on a per-application basis. That means when you verify your age in a streaming site, it doesn't carry over to a forum, a shop, or

a game. Even within the same brand ecosystem, age and identity checks are often duplicated, clunky, and error-prone. Meanwhile, regulators are stepping in to plug the gaps. Utah's SB 287 and Texas's HB 1181 demand age verification for adult content using government-issued ID. The UK's Online Safety Act introduces a duty of care to shield minors from harmful content. European DSA enforcement includes increasing obligations for platforms to verify user age and protect privacy simultaneously. This makes it harder for platforms to comply

and maintain user experience. Most either. 1. Over-collect and store sensitive P, personally identifiable information. 2. Punt compliance to vendors who create their own data honeypots. 3. Ignore the rules and risk litigation or fines. It's a lose-lose-lose. And it's only getting worse as more jurisdictions pass laws and users demand are fines. It's a lose lose lose. And it's only getting worse as more jurisdictions pass laws and users demand higher standards. E. Surveillance by design. How the default became dangerous modern identity verification is increasingly powered by hidden surveillance logic.

Platforms say they're just checking your age or credentials, but the reality is more invasive. Behavioral biometrics track how you type, swipe, and scroll. Facial inference models guess your age and gender with webcams. Documents uploaded to unknown third-party processors are often retained indefinitely. Every attempt to prove you're old enough becomes a Trojan horse for long-term data profiling. There are few standards, weak transparency mandates, and almost no portability for users. What was meant to protect children now risks turning the open internet into a permissions-based

system where access requires surrendering identity. 3. A better way. Trust without surveillance A new wave of builders is approaching identity not as a regulatory obligation, but as a design flaw to fix. Tracer Labs is one of the teams at the forefront. Their flagship product, Trust ID, flips the model on its head. Verify once, use anywhere. Users authenticate once, then reuse that proof across platforms.

Selective Disclosure. Share only the fact needed, e.g., over 18 inches, without your full birthdate or name. User held credentials. Trust ID is portable and encrypted, meaning there's no central data honeypot. Privacy by default. No behavior tracking, no biometric storage, no dark patterns. This is foundational infrastructure that can be embedded across sectors. Examples. Retail.

A 21-year-old verifies age once and uses that across alcohol e-commerce sites. Parental controls. Parents set guardrails that persist across games and devices. Creator platforms. Adult or professional users unlock monetization without risking personal exposure. Enterprise onboarding. Startups in fintech, health tech, or gaming can easily meet identity requirements across regions without building from scratch. IV. Identity is infrastructure, and we've delayed too long think about how payments used to work. Every company managed their own payments stack. Then Stripe arrived and standardized the layer. Identity today is like payments pre-Stripe. Every company builds its own workflow, every

jurisdiction demands something slightly different, and users suffer through broken UX, data breaches, and privacy tradeoffs. It doesn't have to be this way. A shared, privacy-first identity layer like Trust ID could become the connective tissue that brings coherence to the modern web. It doesn't just unlock compliance or simplify onboarding. It enables better trust relationships between platforms and people. V. The moment we're in the next five years will define whether identity online becomes decentralized and user-driven, or centralized and surveillance-laden. The incentives are aligning for a shift.

Privacy regulations are tightening. Users are burned out by breaches and oversharing. Platforms are fatigued by redundant workflows and fragmented tooling. Macro trends like stablecoin and digital dollar adoption by banks and large corporates, alongside the proliferation of agents that require identity wallets for payment utility, are accelerating the need for secure, verifiable systems. The teams that adopt privacy first, interoperable identity now won't just be checking a box. They'll be rebuilding the web's foundation.

The only question left. When your app asks someone to verify their identity, are you offering trust, or asking them to give it up? Thank you for listening to this Hacker Noon story, read by Artificial Intelligence. Visit HackerNoon.com to read, write, learn and publish.