Comparing PublicIdentity.org with Keybase
Keybase.io is a service/website focused on private communication/sharing based on public/private key shared.
Part of the service is claiming identities at various services.
Advantages
- Ties multiple identities together is a secure and auditable way.
- APIs to get and verify identities.
- Profiles are not blocked by robots.txt and show up in Google searches.
- Website has working search functionality.
Disadvantages
- Requires a fair amount of technical knowledge.
- Wants to install a client app.
- Acquired by Zoom in May 2020 and has been very quiet since then.
- At one point they had a way to add a new service to the list of places where you could verify, but the documentation link is no longer valid.
Current verified fields
- Website - multiple allowed, verify via DNS or
/keybase.txt file
- Twitter - via tweet
- Github - via gist
- Reddit
- Hacker News
- In a “more” submenu:
- omg.lol
- DMOJ: Modern Online Judge
- Lobste.rs
- Quantum Resistant Ledger
- Galactic Talk
- LinkPool Market
- Tac Social
- LFG Directory
They also have:
- PGP Key
- Bitcoin address
- Zcash address
Notes
Despite the Zoom takeover, the servers are still running, and the identities/proofs can still be found and validated, so I think it will be a useful as a seed data source.