Key signing parties

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i came late, alas. Government ids are used. Language barriers are an issue. Names can become factors of exoticism. This can be meant to be friendly, but people are are asked about their name again and again. Foreigness is empahsized.

Ids are an issue. People may doubt the validity of foreign documents. This can also be framed as a joke. Expired documments may also be an issue.

Gender is an issue, but, the speaker claims, less of an issue than foreign. There is a roll call. Everyone turns to look at women.

Key signing parties provide no extra information. You must know ahead what's going on. This is mainly an issue for experts.

You can rank keys by degrees of separation. This also creates a gap for noobs. Key signing thus becomes a source of othering.

The key signing party logs create data that can be used to reconstruct social networks. Also, ids come from the state.

Why are id cards worthy of trust?

Untrustworthy people have invalid paperwork, ergo only citizzens are trustworthy.

People who are foreign or exoticized are trust worthy, but their non-normativeness is emphasized.

Small talk can come from projects, but more likely about exoticism.

Processes of otherings impact the community. What is the difference between friendly jokes and the subtle exclusion methods used t perpetuate discrimination?

Which power relations are reproduced in floss?

Question: what should be used instead of id?

Answer: people who actually know each other could sign ids.

Question: is there really a risk of impersonation?

Answer: they say yes, but it's never actually occured.

Some participants view key signing as a form of public demonstration.

People may gain rank in projects by having a lot of key signing connections. It's like being golfing buddies.

Key signing parties do not sound like parties. There is no social interaction, especially at conferences.

How does a government identity card enhance trust?

Key signing becomes a social networking tool, which does not further security and may decrease it.

How do you talk to participants about these issues?

A comic book has been suggested. It is non-threatening and can show the other's experience at being othered.

Personally, i would not even consider going to one of these events. The constant comments i would get around my id would be difficult, to say the least.