For better or worse, another difference between the two is that the “collector” (observer) retains complete ownership over the “specimen” (observation) and all “annotations” (identifications) added to it. This is implemented by allowing the observer to delete any or all of their observations at any time, taking all the attached IDs and comments with them.
I don’t want this to become yet another discussion around account deletion. Just making the point that allowing observers to opt-out of community ID fits well within this ownership paradigm for iNat observations which, for various reasons discussed elsewhere, seems unlikely to change.
That said, there have already been suggestions in other threads (some already mentioned by @DianaStuder) that could go a long way toward de-conflicting observers and identifiers around this issue, such as
- Indexing all observation by both Community ID and Observation ID, so that either one can be used in filters, maps, etc. (old open Feature Request, and another related one)
- Adding a voluntary user profile setting where anyone can time-limit their opt-out choice, based on a period of account inactivity, and/or the age of the opt-out. (Discussed but not yet submitted as a Feature Request - someone please do so!)
- Disable opting out until new accounts reach a certain age and/or number of observations (open Feature Request)
I would add the ability to filter observations by opted-out status but, as @cthawley already noted, this was already requested and declined a while ago.