Government Identity Without Biometrics: A Wallet-First Alternative for Modern Public Infrastructure

Government identity systems have traditionally depended on biometrics as the primary mechanism for verifying individuals. Fingerprints, facial recognition, iris scans, and other physiological markers have been treated as the most reliable way to establish who someone is.This approach solved an important problem at the time. It reduced reliance on physical documents and enabled large scale identity programs. However, it also introduced new challenges around privacy, infrastructure complexity…