The article completely ignores domain name registration. I own a myname.com domain and email address with that domain that I use wherever I need real ID. I also maintain the home page with my latest contact methods. My contacts only need one thing to put in their address book, https://myname.com. I can move registrars easily if needed. I am also not dependent on platforms since people can always find me here if I leave a platform.
Edit: It does not completely ignore this option but frames it a bit restrictively. I set mine for auto renewal and use my domain at an email provider. It is not necessary to run your own SMTP.
> What can you do?
Register your own domain and run your own SMTP server?
Better make sure you renew your domain each year, else...
--- You are no more.
Don't have $5 per month to lease a VPS and run your SMTP server?
--- You are no more.
Has your domain gotten on some mail blacklists?
--- You are not more.
Thinking somewhat along the same scale, I'm planning for having 2 years+ of domain name registration, Fastmail payment & (I should) have Thunderbird constantly syncing the full IMAP to the disk.
In the name of efficiency, it won't be the state doing it until someone, or groups of someone, get sufficiently pissed.
EDIT: passwords & other secrets must be shared with someone of trust.
>What if you fail to renew the domain or to pay for hosting? What if the registrar wants to shut you down? What if your hosting facility catches fire
What if you[1] fail to renew your driver's license, passport, professional certification, homeowner's/renter's insurance and/or refilling your prescription for a life-saving drug? If so, you screwed up. Not paying your bills or maintaining your person-hood and infrastructure is your fault.
Unless (in the US at least) you are a member of a "protected group/class"[0], no one is required to do business with you. And even if you are a member of such a group, good luck proving that you're being discriminated against because of your membership in such a group/class even if that is the case. And even then, there is more than one registrar on the planet.
If my "hosting facility" catches fire, I have much bigger problems (i.e., finding a new place to live and replacing all my belongings) than not getting email. And since there is more than one "hosting facility" (including your own premise), just move to another one.
It's not clear to me what, exactly, you're railing against. Each and every potential issue you mention has a "meat space" parallel that, I imagine (please do correct me if I'm wrong) you are a responsible human who makes sure to do what's necessary to maintain your life/person-hood/place in society.
If those digital things you mention are so unimportant to you that you don't/won't take responsibility to manage them, that's on you, not the rest of the world.
> What if you fail to renew your driver's license, passport, professional certification, homeowner's/renter's insurance and/or refilling your prescription for a life-saving drug?
You just renew them late. There's a risk that you'll need them right then, sure, but generally those mistakes don't lock you out of fixing them for the future. However, a domain is easily irrecoverable.
Same is true for domain names. At least with the registrars that I've used and accidentally allowed my domains to lapse with, the domains stop resolving right away but the registrar doesn't just sell the domain to someone else immediately. You have a grace period to renew it late.
Auto-renewal is a standard feature. You normally don’t have to do anything to renew (other than continue paying the domain fees). You can transfer your domain to a different registrar at any time (for the standard TLDs). If your hosting facility catches fire, you can point your DNS (which should be a different provider, at least for one of primary or secondary DNS) to a new server restored from your backup, at a different hoster. This is usually possible in less than an hour. Email is robust, sender MTAs typically retry for days when your MX is down.
There are plenty of TLD's (top level domains) available. You don't need to use yourname.TLD, but it should be something easy and memorable for your contacts.
Edit: It does not completely ignore this option but frames it a bit restrictively. I set mine for auto renewal and use my domain at an email provider. It is not necessary to run your own SMTP.