file sharing - It's about trust

Building on my previous about sending big files I happened across the following in the wikipedia article on the Somali Shilling...

... Traders avoid the need to carry large amounts of Somali shillings by converting them to U.S. dollars and then wiring them to money houses in Somalia. Because identification can be easily forged, those seeking to pick up wired money are required to answer questions about their clan and kinship relations ...

What's interesting is that the de facto solution is based on private knowledge. So for data transfers, rather than send the key, one should perhaps think of a two or three factor response system, similar to those used by banks to establish your identity for online banking.

I've also suggested in the past that such a solution would help in digital cultural repatriation in Aboriginal communities where, as custodian of digitised cultural heritage, you need to maintain the trust of the traditional owners of that heritage by putting in place measures that require people requesting access to demonstrate that they have the right of access under traditional law.

As a content sharing solution it also has the merit of not requiring people to remember passwords or do something sophisticated with encryption keys, but of course it does mean people having to register with the file sharing service, ie establish their bona fides, before being able to use it - which would constitute a barrier to adoption ...