I think on the same lines. Digital identity is the hardest problem we’ve been procrastinating in solving since forever, because it has the most controversial trade offs, which no two persons can agree on. Despite the well known risks, it’s something only a State can do.
There was a great post on HN about this problem, about a year ago.
Think this was it: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37092319
Interesting paper and exploration of the "pick two" nature of the problem.