Obama Administration Reportedly Plans to Create Internet ID for All Americans

[Bierhunter]

It's ok. Besides, the government says in the article that there's no way a central database would exist.

We can trust them. They're from the government. They're here to help.

I don't think so.....

 

[Street Rat]

I'm sure the governemt will have to create a new department to head this thing as it grows. More federal government, how can this be a bad thing.

 

[JRSherman]

They already do this more than you would believe.

Yeah I'm not sure how much you think I believe, considering I do know my background. . .

 

[ZombieHunter]

Will never happen, hackers and Users OWN the internet, they try to block something, next week it is broke wide open. The internet is a monster they created and can never stop. Good Luck Fed.

 

[aestus]

meh... obama is too late. We already have internet ID and it's called your Facebook Login.

You can use your facebook login on most websites to login and some websites will auto use your facebook to login if you're were already logged into facebook.

I've worked on a few projects where the only way you could login to the website was by using your facebook ID (it usually auto logged you in and you just had to confirm it if you tried to comment, ect.) This helped eliminate 70% of the fake accounts that were in the system and help us tracked demographics, who were using the site, ect.

Unless the internet ID Obama is proposing has an API, can plug into facebook and can seamlessly be used as your login across the board on most websites, it will fail. Facebook Connect is already the standard universal login that most social websites are using.

 

[Blinocac200sx]

This is really nothing new. The technology has been in the works for quite some time, and started in Denmark. The idea is to have an id number that will integrate your e-mail address, web url, ip address, and even your phone number and mailing address. Weather or not this is a good thing, you really can't pin it on Obama.

 

[FlimFlam]

Just to reiterate from the article

"We are not talking about a national ID card," Locke said at the Stanford event. "We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy, and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities."


It seems this is more of an effort to research and put forth standards for digital certificates that are used for banks and other secure systems. As in, the government would recommend a specific encryption/validation schema and it would be up to private entities to implement them for their own purposes. Whether the government's suggestion would be "required" or not was not stated in the article.

As others have stated, "You can't stop the signal".

 

[JRSherman]

Well, I can say one thing about government sponsored security certificates. When I was in the Navy, I actually spent my own money and bought a CAC reader so I could use my ID card security certificates to study online military courses at home.

That lasted about one night, because the certificate standards were so low that my standard McAfee or Norton(can't remember which) absolutely would not trust them and it was a major PITA to get logged on.

Now apply that to a national level and see how better off we would be. I'm pretty certain the banks, etc, are probably already better off with their current standards, since they trumped my government standards at the time.

ETA: I am not a computer guru btw.

 

[Nraman]

The question is not what it would be in the beginning, rather what it can grow to in the future.
I remember a time when the gummint said that the social security number was not supposed to be used as an ID, it was for retirement benefits only.
Didn't turn out that way.

 

[Glocktogo]

identity ecosystem

Well their "identity ecosystem" is really a "soft" term for "tax roll". There's only one reason for the .gov to identify everyone on the internet and it's called tax revenue. Too much untaxed commerce on the web and they're not getting a piece of the pie. Wait and see, it's gonna happen...

I'm sorry but if you have a dozen passwords and usernames you have to be one difficult person. Do you have a dozen credit cards to help remember how much money you've spent?

As a .gov employee, I have to have a password protected file to list all of my user names and passwords. Eleven to be exact. Each application has it's own rules and most automatically assign your username, which is invariably different. Passwords have to be changed frequently. Wouldn't be such a big issue is they could just standardize the protocols. Not a chance of that happening.