Tech giants team for online ID cards

Tech giants team for online ID cards

Daniel Fleshbourne on 30 June 2008 - 12:47 · 12 comments & 7910 views

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A group of software and online payment companies are teaming up to find a better way than passwords to protect, and prove, your identity online. Problems with passwords are well known - people require ever more passwords which means they either get forgotten, or people use the same word for several different services which is a security risk. The new group will seek to find open standards to make it easier to prove your identity online without using dozens of passwords and usernames.

Equifax, Google, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle and PayPal will work together to create "Information Cards" - online cards like those in your wallet. Different cards can contain different levels of information and can be used to log in to different websites instead of using a username and password. Some may contain just a user name and password, others address information.

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#1 Pandya on 30 Jun 2008 - 13:42

Good idea if they can execute it and pull it off correctly. That said, with the names behind it, I don't see why not.

#2 boho on 30 Jun 2008 - 13:56

Avoid Pay-Pal there have been too many scams, but Google Check-out is rather handy (uses credit card information), I only hope it grows in popularity (or Pay-Pal come under some kind of financial regulation). Number generators have been around for years, so why these companies want to re-invent another security system is anyone's guess.

(1 reply) #3 Marshalus on 30 Jun 2008 - 14:02

Secure Open ID provider + RSA security token seems like it would be enough for me.

#3.1 QuarterSwede on 02 Jul 2008 - 00:36

That's what I was thinking myself.

(1 reply) #4 Magallanes on 30 Jun 2008 - 14:24

Sound evil.

#4.1 toadeater on 01 Jul 2008 - 05:07

(Magallanes said @ #4)

Sound evil.

Next they'll want you to install a TPM chip... in your head!

I don't take Judeo-Christian mythology seriously, "Satan" has nothing to do with this, but I don't like the idea of corporations having this much control over us. Especially corporations that can't fix the bugs in their software. I don't want the TPM chip in my head crashing and blowing my brains out. That's going to be one hell of a BSOD.

#5 iCarry on 30 Jun 2008 - 14:51

Sounds somewhat like the old Passport idea that Microsoft pushed a few years back, but adding financial data to the equation.

I won't get one, unless I have a NEED for one. Sometimes, less is more.

#6 FloatingFatMan on 30 Jun 2008 - 14:58

I don't think there's ANY reason, for ANY online service to ever store your financial information, especially credit card numbers. It's a total waste of time and a huge security issue. CC numbers are only needed at the point of transaction, and only by the card clearing company. The online retailer only needs a transaction reference number for any queries, which they get, not the CC number.

(1 reply) #7 ajua on 30 Jun 2008 - 15:49

It would be better it those companies backed up openID.

For financial info and other important accounts, we all have credit cards and secure connections.

#7.1 blackspawn on 02 Jul 2008 - 16:36

OpenID has serious phishing issues, and is more of an authentication provider for low-level authentications (for social networks for example). No sane financial institution or company that deals with sensative data (like CC) would adopt OpenID. Besides, Cardspace (or infoCards) can be made (if it is not already) compatible with OpenID.

This is all about stopping the storage of PII (personal identifiable information) and related attributes all over the net, but still being able to provide such information, when necessary, to service providers in a secure and privacy enhanced way (minimal information disclosure, encrypted transmission, use of certificates for validating information, etc.).

This is a step forward for the Identity Management (IdM) world ;-)

#8 Wodin on 30 Jun 2008 - 16:00

This has Big Brother written all over it.

#9 magik on 30 Jun 2008 - 22:46

Why don't they leverage what OpenID already has established? That's really the only hope OpenID has, IMO.

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Tech giants team for online ID cards

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