Passwords, as we know them in the form of computer passwords, are of course much more recent, usually credited to Fernando J. Corbató for use in the Compatible Time-Sharing System in the early 60s. Their semantics are quite different from having to say &quot;swordfish&quot; to a guard behind a door.<p>There&#x27;s nothing intrinsically wrong with them. There are people who propose we generate key pairs for every newborn. It is, however, delusional to believe that the same governments which struggle with flat documentation will then turn around to properly do PKI.