Digital ID World Conference

Denver is playing host to the Digital ID World conference, which is intended to discuss and examine the future of "digital identity" - how you'll be identified, tracked, and monitored online. Several people from the weblog community are in attendance and have reports available: Denise Howell, David Weinberger, Doc Searls.

Comments

hate to reference 1984, but...

[dildatron]

I hate to reference 1984, but it seems like the whole identity tracking thing sparks a lot of fear in a lot of people. It's not so much that we are all doing bad things and just don't want to be tracked, it's that the potential for abuse is high.

And it's not just on computers, by any means. More and more I have noticed cameras on nearly every stop light, cameras in every parking lot, etc. I know what their intended purpose, but they can potentially be abused.

I think most of us are pro-privacy, and I will sacrifice a bit of safety for personal freedoms. I just know how bad people abuse good things all too well.

If this is the future...

[ites]

Then it sucks.
Being observed without the chance to watch back
is one of the worst things I can imagine.
At least when we lived in villages, and everyone
knew everything about everyone else,
things balanced out.
But this vision of tracking humanity like so many pigeons
is distasteful in the extreme.
Nonetheless, it will happen sooner or later.
Hopefully after I kick the bucket.

Re:If this is the future...

[nanojath]

Oh you're exaggerating. You only have to be identified by the one number, six hundred three score and six, and you have the option of receiving the character on either your forehead or your hand!

No need for parental supervision ...

[mustangdavis]

I guess this devise would prevent guys from telling their date's parents that they are going to "the movies" ....

Anonymity on the Internet

[gpinzone]

...how you'll be identified, tracked, and monitored online.

The post by Michael doesn't necessarily imply that Digital IDs are good or bad. However, most discussions here on Slashdot tend to demonize Digital IDs as an invasion of privacy. Consumers want Digital IDs so they can be securely identified when making purchases or logging into a computer network over the unsecured Internet. Do not confuse the issue of anonymity with identification schemes. The Internet currently has no such IDs or strict authentication, yet law enforcement can still track down perpetrators of illegal activity.

What we want is the option of being completely secure or completely anonymous. Neither task is a simple one.

Re:Anonymity on the Internet

[neurostar]

What we want is the option of being completely secure or completely anonymous. Neither task is a simple one.

This is very true. Neither of them will be easy to attain. However, given the choice between the two, I would pick anonymity. I think that out of the two, it would be easier to remain anonymous than to have total security. Total security, for all practical purposes, is impossible. It is impossible to ensure that all the people who are watching us are doing the best job with the best intentions. The 'human factor' must be considered.

Even if we do get a great amount of security at the cost of our anonymity, it the 'security' would most likely end up being worse than if everyone was anonymous or even worse than it is now. This flaw in security would result from the fact that someone who wanted to commit some crime, would find it easier to collect a large amount of information about a large number of people. The huge databases required on the path to 'total security' would facillitate this possibility.

However, with anonymity comes separation. If we remain mostly anonymous, it is harder for criminals to get information on us. Law enforcement would still be able to protect us, as stated in the comment by gpinzone, because they don't need to know anything about me, for example, to catch a criminal that stole my car or something.

As an example from my personal life, I try and buy most of the things I get using cash. This is because of the simple fact that cash is anonymous. People can find out that I withdrew $40 from my bank account. But they can't find out what I spent the money on. That means I have the freedom to buy what I want without worrying about someone databasing what I buy. The database of things I buy could be used for something that is only annoying, like targeted advertising, or for something else, like planning a robbery.

To sumarize, I feel we should strive for anonymity because it is safer and it doesn't compromise the ability of Law Enforcement to deal with criminals.

neurostar

The future of Instant Messaging

[conduit4]

1100101100110: I'm grounded because my mom caught me surfing around some porn sites from her trip to Hawaii 1010110100111: LOL 1010110100111:Well, yesterday I was using my P2P program and so far today 10 record company execs have come to my house to make sure I didnt have and illegal music they owned on my computer. 1100101100110: Rough 1100101100110: the same thing happened to 0011001001100 last week.

monitored online?

[User 956]

how you'll be identified, tracked, and monitored online. Several people from the weblog community

Isn't having a weblog a way to be identified, tracked, and monitored online? Seriously, most of them consist of inane crap like "At 2:14 I ate a cheese sandwitch and watched Buffy reruns", and "I live in my parents' basement".

This has been planned forever

[SexyKellyOsbourne]

The digital identity that will finally make it is an 18-digit code, split into three parts of 6 digits, embedded in a chip in the forehead or the right hand!

Beware, the end times are near!

More information can be found here:

http://www.bible-prophecy.com/mark.htm

We need two things....

[TerryAtWork]

1 - A way to absolutely prove who we are in order to buy stuff safely.

2 - A way to absolutely hide who we are in order to score all that pr0n off the net safely....

Interac?

[CodeTRap]

Your rights online. HAH! What about your rights offline?

What I want to know is this. How much of my spending habits, (what I eat, drink, sleep on, sleep in, sleep with, all that information) how much of it does a company like Interac have? Or Visa, or MasterCard. When you make your puchases using that little pinpad, or any other form of electronic payment.. How much of that information is stored, analyzed, saved, used?

You're all afraid of losing the ability to download free mp3's.. or surfing porn anonymously.. but. What about being able to buy groceries without big bro knowing what you eat? Or what movies you watch. Or where you were? How much of that electronic trail can be used to trace your movements? Who has the right to that information? What are they going to use it for?

Do you think that your day cannot be traced by the purchases you make? Where you work? Traced with camera's throughout the city... I wonder who's made a game of watching you, just for practice.....

The real problem

[0ddity]

is the fact that something like this is needed in the first place. An international id is not going to be a fix for the lack of security we have in the world today. The only true solution is for people to start being honest. This system will be abused just like any other no matter how secure they try to make it.

My humble opinion.

[halftrack]

IMHO privacy and online identification is where it should be. The ISP's logs the connection between IPs and users (which they are unwilling to give away) and there is a fair level of audit where only IPs are logged.

When it comes to privacy it is right where I wan't it, in my own hands. If I give out too much information it's my own fault. What is important is to educate the wast majority of Joes and Janes how to separate the trustworthy from the untrustworthy, when your name is A. Nonymus and where to put your spam-reciever-e-mail address.

Of course IP logs can be cracked or sold (very rare) by dishonest ISPs, but then again taking a crack on a larger (be privat or government run) database with private information would probably (for those who enjoy such foolishnes') be more fun and profitable. And when it comes to my father, mother, brother and sisters someone ought to teach them where it is okay to give up their private information and which services never to trust.

three cheers for cash!

[Frymaster]

not only is cash anonymous for you the purchaser, it also puts no status restrictions on the seller.

to accept creditcards or interac (i assume you have that in the states as well) the seller must:

1. have legitimacy in the eyes of the state
2. hav sufficient money to obtain approval form banks, the state &c.
3. submit to scrutiny by the banks/state

meeting these requirement excludes a large portion of society (usually the poorest and wekest part) from fulfilling the "seller" role. can you accept credit cards?

while cash is good for the buyer (anonymous, fast &c.) it's impact on the seller is far more significant - not just in maintaining their anonymity but even just allowing them to fill the role of seller at all.

Re:warning: biting

[nanojath]

theist: one who believes in the existence of a god or gods

atheists are incapable of recognizing ethical conduct and moral opinion since their "moral" code is little more than threat-avoidance/reward-driven behaviour (as their understanding of human conduct recognizes only evolutionary forces i.e. survival- and reproduction- inspired behavior).

Although I fall into the very, very, very broad category of "theist" I don't actuall believe the statement immediately above. But you will find plenty of "theists" who will, in fact, assert that anyone who does not believe in a God or gods can only be a moral relativist. Why do they assert this? Because they are are judgemental dumbasses. And so are you.

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?

[B.D.Mills]

The Romans had a good saying here - Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

I cannot trust someone I cannot see or don't know guarding my personal information. Chances are they will sell it to all willing to pay, including those whom I would prefer not to have it. Many ISP's already do this, and they will keep on doing it.

So who's keeping an eye on these silent watchers? Nobody. And this is wrong.