Hmm... I'm not aware if health insurance numbers in Canada is sensitive info or not. I just know in the US, I probably wouldn't want to go around giving my health insurance number out. I'd expect to find myself with a dozen prescriptions charged to me, and weird doctor bills showing up.
The small distribution to select groups may help, but I still think a small distribution to everyone in Quebec would help more so. The thing is, the logical danger of a big airdrop all at once is that people cash them out. Yet if you go with a smallish amount to everyone, there isn't nearly as big a danger. And you get the benefits of more publicity and possibly quicker adoption. Give someone $100 worth of coins and they will cash out. Give someone $5-$10 worth of coins, and they probably just hold onto them, or consider how they can be used for something.
I can confirm that our health insurance card is commonly used for identification here in Québec. Honestly, I'm not really worried about identifying Quebecers.
Yes like Brunic just mentioned, RAMQ health insurance cards are used for identification. The reason why we're not worried is because health insurance is free for everyone and universal. No one will be 'charging' anything to your card since the card is just proof of residence basically. All extra costs are out of pocket except if you habe additional insurance provided by work and we won't have those numbers of course.
It might work then. And health insurance there is very different than in the US, so it may be much safer. Although I do wonder how the dev will know if a health insurance card number is valid or not.
I just can't justify doing an airdrop to everyone in Québec right away. If 0.1% of all Québecers have heard about QBC in two or three months that's already a big step. I don't think 0.1% of people in Spain know about SpainCoin, and yet they're still doing an airdrop right away. It's a waste of coins and an insult to miners and investors, those are the people you have to think about in the beginning, they are the initial driving force behind your coin. Auroracoin was abandoned by miners pretty quickly after their incredible crash and that resulted in an attack on the network as well. We'll start with small giveaways in major cities like Montréal and Québec City for example and then spread from there. People are way too short sighted about cryptos right now and I'm thinking long term.