153M Driver's License Scans Leaked via IDScan.net Hack, Coin Center Slams KYC
StewartalsopIII · x · 2026-09-03
A dark-market database claims over 153 million driver's license scans—including Pete Hegseth's and Brian Krebs's—were siphoned from identity-verification middleman IDScan.net, covering roughly half the US population. Writing for Coin Center, Peter Van Valkenburgh argues such breaches were inevitable: society outsources mass data collection to quasi-government contractors that would face constitutional scrutiny if done directly, while compliance departments favor box-checking over data minimization. KYC, he contends, doesn't stop crime, enables mass surveillance, and enriches hackers with intimate personal data—and attackers will increasingly weaponize AI against these verification honeypots. Better alternatives like verifiable credentials and zero-knowledge proofs already exist but are blocked by regulatory inertia.
Related event: IDScan.net Blamed for Mega Leak of 153M US and Canada Driver's Licenses(7 posts)→
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