Meanwhile, anons, everyday commerce is being outfitted with ID verification services like those offered by companies such as Clear (https://www.clearme.com/, which we'll use as an example here).
This service requires the consumer to "prove" his identity before being allowed to transact any business. At checkout, the hopeful customer must scan his "Real ID®" (i.e., driver’s license) with his phone and then take a "selfie." If everything is working correctly, his data is uploaded on the spot to Clear at the point of sale. Presumably, an ID check is conducted against whatever personally unique information is linked to his Real ID®, along with some facial recognition "magic" to match his selfie to his actual ID photo.
The system eliminates human judgment regarding the customer's ID at the point of sale, instead deferring identity verification to the algorithm. If the system fails, there is no immediate appeal. And it does fail— for example, if the customer, distracted and perhaps in a rush at the register, enters personal info incorrectly three times in a row, he will receive a "Sorry, Try Again Later" message. If the network connection is spotty, if he forgets his phone or its charge runs out on the spot, or if he has shaved or is having a bad hair day, or if he somehow fails to perfectly match his selfie to his Real ID® photo, his transaction is declined. That means he cannot buy or sell at that moment in that business. No smartphone? We don’t serve your kind.
Thus, if you encounter this system, regardless of who you say you are, who you really are, the quality of your business reputation, the size of your bank balance, etc.: unless this system—which is being used increasingly by all manner of businesses, big and small—approves you, you cannot transact business. Put another way, without the algorithm's approval, you cannot buy or sell. Period.
Anon was lured into using Clear at a small airport last year, on the promise that I'd be able to "skip the line." It was a free trial (with payment information provided). Anon opted out immediately on returning home, seeing no real need for it. To anon's surprise, the same system was used over a year later at Home Depot, and anon already had an account! Sadly, however, anon had shaved and grown a year older, and so could not buy or sell (or rent a truck) at Home Depot that day. Takeaway, once your in the Clear system, you cannot get out, even if you "opt out."