Once an individual has been formally registered with the government and an identifier has been issued (a number in a government database that points at a particular person), the individual can use this number to do a transaction with government. For example, a transaction is the payment of taxes using the identifier issued (in the United States this is an SSN). These two types of interactions (registrations and transactions) with government are often thought of as the same, but they are quite different. For the most part, one needs to be registered with the government before transacting with it. Individuals present identification to their government and are able to transact with or receive services from the government

Relationship to Other Domains

Before conducting many types of transactions with government, one needs to have gone through a government registration process. The government makes records of some transactions available publicly and data brokers can collect the information and use it. The data generated by transactions are also vulnerable to theft and use on the illicit market.

Detailed Description and Relevant Literature

The previous domain, government registration, reviews the evolution of contemporary practices that governments use to register their citizens and residents. Governments in the registration process, and particularly with birth registration, become the attribute provider for individuals. The registration in a registry of births and the associated birth certificate that corresponds to this is the authoritative source (the county government) of an individual's birth date, name and parent's names, and location of birth. Thus, the government “provides” this identity attribute to the individual. The location of birth determines citizenship status; if it is in the United States, they are citizens; if it is outside of the United States, they are not citizens unless they present other evidence.

When individuals present themselves to access government services and transact with the government, they require this attribute (birth date, place of birth) from an authoritative source (county vital statistic registry) in a trustworthy form (on a birth certificate) before proceeding. This attribute is also required for secondary registration processes with the government such as getting a driver's license, SSN, and passport.