Obama Eyeing Internet ID for Americans

[Bloodstain]

Are people that opposed to change?

 

Are people that lazy/irresponsible that they can't keep track of their own passwords?

[Danqazmlp]

Are people that opposed to change?

 

Are people that lazy/irresponsible that they can't keep track of their own passwords?

 

Yes? Add forgetful into that. There is a need, lets fill that with an invention. I see no problem here? It wouldn't be forced, those who feel they can remember everything could carry on remembering, those who can't, if they have too many names, are older and aren't as good at remembering or simply don't want to have to remember, won't have to.

[Zaaps1]

Are people that opposed to change?

 

Are people that lazy/irresponsible that they can't keep track of their own passwords?

 

Yes? Add forgetful into that. There is a need, lets fill that with an invention. I see no problem here? It wouldn't be forced, those who feel they can remember everything could carry on remembering, those who can't, if they have too many names, are older and aren't as good at remembering or simply don't want to have to remember, won't have to.

 

Exactly.

 

The issue here isn't whether or not people are lazy. The question isn't if people should be responsible for keeping track of their password. The problem here is that people don't, so making an invention to solve that is a no-brainer. Who cares if people could just use notepad to store their passwords. The simple fact of the matter is many people won't, and many people need those passwords. I know I'm guilty of this myself.

[Georgelemmons]

A lot of people seem to be not reading and then thinking that this is a log-on system to the internet where the government controls all access. This isn't. It's going to be a secure version of OpenID, more or less.

 

Actually, OpenID has a great blog post about the issue. http://openid.net/2011/01/08/internet-identity-system-said-readied-by-obama/

 

 

Internet Identity System Said Readied by Obama

 

By James Sterngold

 

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration plans to

announce today plans for an Internet identity system that will

limit fraud and streamline online transactions, leading to a

surge in Web commerce, officials said.

 

While the White House has spearheaded development of the

framework for secure online identities, the system led by the

U.S. Commerce Department will be voluntary and maintained by

private companies, said the officials, who spoke on condition of

anonymity ahead of the announcement.

 

A group representing companies including Verizon

Communications Inc., Google Inc., PayPal Inc., Symantec Corp.

and AT&T Inc. has supported the program, called the National

Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, or NSTIC.

“This is going to cause a huge shift in consumer use of

the Internet,” said John Clippinger, co-director of the Law Lab

at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society in

Cambridge, Massachusetts. “There’s going to be a huge bump and

a huge increase in the amount and kind of data retailers are

going to have.”

 

Most companies have separate systems for signing on to e-

mail accounts or conducting secure online transactions,

requiring that users memorize multiple passwords and repeat

steps. Under the new program, consumers would sign in just once

and be able to move among other websites, eliminating the

inconvenience that causes consumers to drop many transactions.

 

Fewer Passwords

 

For example, once the system is in place, Google would be

able to join a trusted framework that has adopted the rules and

guidelines established by the Commerce Department. From that

point, someone who logged into a Google e-mail account would be

able to conduct other business including banking or shopping

with other members of the group without having to provide

additional information or verification.

 

Bruce McConnell, a senior counselor for national protection

at the Department of Homeland Security, said NSTIC may lead to a

big reduction in the size of Internet help desks, which spend

much of their time assisting users who have forgotten their

passwords. Because the systems would be more secure, he said, it

may also result in many transactions that are now done on paper,

from pharmaceutical to real estate purchases, to be done online

faster and cheaper.

 

A draft paper outlining NSTIC was released for comment by

the White House in June.

 

‘Who Do You Trust?’

 

“NSTIC could go a long way toward advancing one of the

fundamental challenges of the Internet today, which is — Who do

you trust?” said Don Thibeau, chairman of the Open Identity

Exchange, an industry group based in San Ramon, California,

representing companies that support development of the new

framework.

 

“What is holding back the growth of e-commerce is not

technology, it’s policy. This gives us the rules, the policies

that we need to really move forward.”

 

The new system will probably hasten the death of

traditional passwords, Clippinger said. Instead, users may rely

on devices such as smartcards with embedded chips, tokens that

generate random codes or biometric devices.

 

“Passwords will disappear,” said Clippinger. “They’re

buggy whips. The old privacy and security conventions don’t

work. You need a new architecture.”

 

Secure, Efficient

 

Development of a more advanced security system began in

August 2004, when President George W. Bush issued a Homeland

Security Presidential Directive that required all federal

employees be given smartcards with multiple uses, such as

gaining access to buildings, signing on to government websites

and insuring that only people with proper clearances would have

access to restricted documents. The system was intended to be

more secure and more efficient.

 

The Obama administration advanced the process when it

issued its “Cyberspace Policy Review” in 2009. One of the 10

priorities was the security identification system.

The federal government is facilitating what it calls a

“foundational” system in two ways. It is developing the

framework for the identification plan, and it will make a large

number of government agencies, services and products available

through the secure system, from tax returns to reserving

campsites at national parks.

 

“Innovation is one of the key aspects here,” said Ari

Schwartz, a senior adviser for Internet policy at the Department

of Commerce. “There’s so much that could be done if we could

trust transactions more.”

 

Schwartz said use of the system, once companies voluntarily

choose to participate, may spur a range of efficiencies and e-

commerce similar to the way ATM machines transformed banking,

opening the way to a growing number of services little by

little.

 

Privacy Concerns

 

Civil libertarians have expressed concern that the system

may not protect privacy as well as the government is promising.

“If the concept were implemented in a perfect way it would

be very good,” said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst for

privacy and technology at the New York-based American Civil

Liberties Union. “It’s a convenience. But having a single point

of failure may not be good for protecting privacy. The devil’s

really in the details.” He said the ACLU would “vehemently

oppose” anything that resembled a national ID card.

 

Aaron Brauer-Rieke, a fellow at the Center for Democracy &

Technology in Washington, a civil liberties group, said it was

important that the system would be operated by private

companies, not the government. He said he was concerned about

how the data on consumer online transactions would be used.

“New identity systems will allow moving from one site to

another with less friction and open up data flows, but might

also enable new kinds of targeted advertising,” he said. “We

have to make sure privacy doesn’t get lost in this.”

 

Schwartz and McConnell said the new system wouldn’t be a

national identity card and that companies, not the government,

would manage the data being passed online.

“There will not be a single data base for this

information,” McConnell said.

 

[Omar]

Are people that lazy/irresponsible that they can't [act]?

 

That can be used as an argument against any type of invention or innovation. Enjoy hunting your own food. :thumbup:

Fact is it would make everything easier, and at this point you can't really pinpoint the consequences of this "Internet ID".

[Giordano]

This isn't a matter of people against inventions, its a matter of people jumping too easily in conclusions and then thinking they're an all-star debater.

 

Nobody directly said they're against a password-rememberance invention, but I'm am so sorry if I offend you if I say grow some personal responsibility for your crap.

[Orpheus]

I'm honestly not too sure what to think. On paper it seems like an alright idea, provided it's voluntary. If it remains optional and corporations can't force the use of it, I don't see too much of an issue. Then again, there is corruption.

[Scorcheddd]

Hardly. Facebook is only changing the internet because it's making the internet a better way of advertising for businesses. Plain and simple.

 

That is just 100% wrong. Maybe not for people who previously used the internet and websites such as forums, but for the masses, (which the internet should be geared towards) it has changed social interactions hugely and it has brought these masses to the internet. Many people seem to think facebook is an evil to the world which does nothing, but I ask, how many of these actually use it? For those who do use it, it is a great way to communicate and organise for free. Instead of phoning 20 people, I can organise 20 people with ease in seconds. It hasn't brought many new things to the world, but it has brought all the things social networking has done to one place, which, by the amount of active users, has been a great success.

 

No, that is 100% correct. It HAS simplified social interaction, but in the grand scheme of the world and it's history, that's really unimportant compared to the large potential market for businesses. And don't say anything about Facebook being evil because I never did nor did anyone in this thread.

 

 

And about the losing passwords: PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Live with it.

 

 

I disagree, facebook has brought many people to the internet who previously wouldn't use it. That is what it will be remembered for. How many of the over 60's currently on the internet have started using it because of facebook? It's a little like the Wii, it is looked down upon by gamers, yet it has brought massive amounts of money into the business and many people into the gaming area. Mass appeal has made Facebook massively influential in society and communication.

 

The problem is like facebook, people will slowly start to use it until so many have that it's ineffective to NOT have one. I don't want everything linked together, that'd make it that much easier to steal...

[The_Gabe]

No, just no. Linking everything together is a lot more dangerous than forgetting a couple passwords. There may be some passwords and usenames that are untraceable to you, and I'm sure a lot of people would like to keep it that way.

 

 

Oh sure, it'd start out as voluntary, but then it's going to be required by companies who see it as efficient to their marketing later on in the game..

[Alg]

Dare I say it... Slippery Slope??? It's a fairly wild leap of logic to say that based on the article provided, the government *WILL* censor the internet...

This isn't a matter of people against inventions, its a matter of people jumping too easily in conclusions and then thinking they're an all-star debater.

This is the internet. That's more or less how debate works here.

 

Something like, you log in to your one account and it's tied to whatever other accounts you may have might be good. Why log in to 3-4 sites and keep track of 3-4 sets of details when you can log in once when you turn on your computer? That's convenience, which is really what innovation is there for. Sure, if you constantly forget your passwords, that's your problem, but really, who actually wants to have to memorize several passwords, especially if a better system could come into place? I only did it out of necessity, personally, and I'm probably in the minority in that I have them fully memorized and not just written down somewhere...

 

It'll be open to abuse, but so is everything, especially on the internet. Youtube lets people upload videos to the public, but it's also used to upload copyrighted material. I recall someone on one of the piracy threads arguing that restricting the torrents/filesharing would hurt the distribution of legal technology. Different applications, similar arguments.

[Flyingjj]

So, under this system if someone steals your password or digital passcard or whatever this is, they now have what they need to PROVE they are you to any number of sites that may contain information from credit cards to bank account numbers to any other amount of personal information rather than just the ONE account they stole/hacked the password to under the current system? Do I have this right? Serious question.

[Giordano]

So, under this system if someone steals your password or digital passcard or whatever this is, they now have what they need to PROVE they are you to any number of sites that may contain information from credit cards to bank account numbers to any other amount of personal information rather than just the ONE account they stole/hacked the password to under the current system? Do I have this right? Serious question.

Yes.

 

Well at least I think you do. See, I compare this to Social Security: a vital number that has everything attatched to it. But it's even worse than Social Security since it's (somehow) privatized. I cannot recall any similar mainstream systems: Passports, Driver Licenses, Employer Numbers, all ran by the government.

 

You know, I think the weirdest part of all this is seriously just the government part. It sounds like Google's inventing a super-app that businesses can use to ID you, but somehow the governments involved in one way or another.

[The Dark Lord]

Mother[bleep]ing socialist.

[Nadril]

Are people that opposed to change?

 

Are people that lazy/irresponsible that they can't keep track of their own passwords?

 

Yes? Add forgetful into that. There is a need, lets fill that with an invention. I see no problem here? It wouldn't be forced, those who feel they can remember everything could carry on remembering, those who can't, if they have too many names, are older and aren't as good at remembering or simply don't want to have to remember, won't have to.

 

Wouldn't the entire point of having an "Internet ID" to be that it would be forced?

 

I don't really like the idea personally, especially trying to consider the logistics of it and all. I mean if it's something you're using to log into everything with and some site you use gets copromissed (it can happen, look at what happened with the Gawker media family sites) instead of just them knowing your login/pw for that site they now know it for everything of yours.

 

 

I guess I just don't see how this would work. At all. I mean I guess what would make sense is it would be voluntary/mandatory for certain companies and such but I just wonder how it would catch on. I know Korea has something like it that all of the mmo's over there use.

[Furah]

Hmm, might not get a job in the IT field as if this idea shows its head wherever I'm living I will stop using the internet.

[Racheya]

I would laugh and go 'silly America' but I'm haunted by a video from a guy who was telling all the people in America and across the world to stop pointing and laughing at Australia's government's attempts to censor the internet like China. He said because it's coming to YOU guys too.

 

Well [bleep].

 

Guess it is.

 

If this does get some ground in America, heaven forbid, the UK will be jumping on it too. Nobody is safe.

[The Observer]

One major problem for me is if hackers managed to crack into this type of thing. I don't see how this is different from any other system that's been hacked. I personally wouldn't want the world knowing my real identity, my house address, where I go to school, etc, which can be easily figured out if you have the correct information. And certainly there's people out there that have the potential to cause harm.

[Danqazmlp]

 

A lot of people seem to be not reading and then thinking that this is a log-on system to the internet where the government controls all access. This isn't. It's going to be a secure version of OpenID, more or less.

 

Actually, OpenID has a great blog post about the issue. http://openid.net/2011/01/08/internet-identity-system-said-readied-by-obama/

 

 

Internet Identity System Said Readied by Obama

 

By James Sterngold

 

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) The Obama administration plans to

announce today plans for an Internet identity system that will

limit fraud and streamline online transactions, leading to a

surge in Web commerce, officials said.

 

While the White House has spearheaded development of the

framework for secure online identities, the system led by the

U.S. Commerce Department will be voluntary and maintained by

private companies, said the officials, who spoke on condition of

anonymity ahead of the announcement.

 

A group representing companies including Verizon

Communications Inc., Google Inc., PayPal Inc., Symantec Corp.

and AT&T Inc. has supported the program, called the National

Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, or NSTIC.

This is going to cause a huge shift in consumer use of

the Internet, said John Clippinger, co-director of the Law Lab

at Harvards Berkman Center for Internet and Society in

Cambridge, Massachusetts. Theres going to be a huge bump and

a huge increase in the amount and kind of data retailers are

going to have.

 

Most companies have separate systems for signing on to e-

mail accounts or conducting secure online transactions,

requiring that users memorize multiple passwords and repeat

steps. Under the new program, consumers would sign in just once

and be able to move among other websites, eliminating the

inconvenience that causes consumers to drop many transactions.

 

Fewer Passwords

 

For example, once the system is in place, Google would be

able to join a trusted framework that has adopted the rules and

guidelines established by the Commerce Department. From that

point, someone who logged into a Google e-mail account would be

able to conduct other business including banking or shopping

with other members of the group without having to provide

additional information or verification.

 

Bruce McConnell, a senior counselor for national protection

at the Department of Homeland Security, said NSTIC may lead to a

big reduction in the size of Internet help desks, which spend

much of their time assisting users who have forgotten their

passwords. Because the systems would be more secure, he said, it

may also result in many transactions that are now done on paper,

from pharmaceutical to real estate purchases, to be done online

faster and cheaper.

 

A draft paper outlining NSTIC was released for comment by

the White House in June.

 

Who Do You Trust?

 

NSTIC could go a long way toward advancing one of the

fundamental challenges of the Internet today, which is Who do

you trust? said Don Thibeau, chairman of the Open Identity

Exchange, an industry group based in San Ramon, California,

representing companies that support development of the new

framework.

 

What is holding back the growth of e-commerce is not

technology, its policy. This gives us the rules, the policies

that we need to really move forward.

 

The new system will probably hasten the death of

traditional passwords, Clippinger said. Instead, users may rely

on devices such as smartcards with embedded chips, tokens that

generate random codes or biometric devices.

 

Passwords will disappear, said Clippinger. Theyre

buggy whips. The old privacy and security conventions dont

work. You need a new architecture.

 

Secure, Efficient

 

Development of a more advanced security system began in

August 2004, when President George W. Bush issued a Homeland

Security Presidential Directive that required all federal

employees be given smartcards with multiple uses, such as

gaining access to buildings, signing on to government websites

and insuring that only people with proper clearances would have

access to restricted documents. The system was intended to be

more secure and more efficient.

 

The Obama administration advanced the process when it

issued its Cyberspace Policy Review in 2009. One of the 10

priorities was the security identification system.

The federal government is facilitating what it calls a

foundational system in two ways. It is developing the

framework for the identification plan, and it will make a large

number of government agencies, services and products available

through the secure system, from tax returns to reserving

campsites at national parks.

 

Innovation is one of the key aspects here, said Ari

Schwartz, a senior adviser for Internet policy at the Department

of Commerce. Theres so much that could be done if we could

trust transactions more.

 

Schwartz said use of the system, once companies voluntarily

choose to participate, may spur a range of efficiencies and e-

commerce similar to the way ATM machines transformed banking,

opening the way to a growing number of services little by

little.

 

Privacy Concerns

 

Civil libertarians have expressed concern that the system

may not protect privacy as well as the government is promising.

If the concept were implemented in a perfect way it would

be very good, said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst for

privacy and technology at the New York-based American Civil

Liberties Union. Its a convenience. But having a single point

of failure may not be good for protecting privacy. The devils

really in the details. He said the ACLU would vehemently

oppose anything that resembled a national ID card.

 

Aaron Brauer-Rieke, a fellow at the Center for Democracy &

Technology in Washington, a civil liberties group, said it was

important that the system would be operated by private

companies, not the government. He said he was concerned about

how the data on consumer online transactions would be used.

New identity systems will allow moving from one site to

another with less friction and open up data flows, but might

also enable new kinds of targeted advertising, he said. We

have to make sure privacy doesnt get lost in this.

 

Schwartz and McConnell said the new system wouldnt be a

national identity card and that companies, not the government,

would manage the data being passed online.

There will not be a single data base for this

information, McConnell said.

 

 

 

 

That brings up some great points which unfortunately, many people have not read and just decided to comment with knee jerk reactions knowing nothing of what is going on beyond the title. Things to highlight:

 

While the White House has spearheaded development of the

framework for secure online identities, the system led by the

U.S. Commerce Department will be voluntary and maintained by

private companies, said the officials, who spoke on condition of

anonymity ahead of the announcement.

 

A group representing companies including Verizon

Communications Inc., Google Inc., PayPal Inc., Symantec Corp.

and AT&T Inc. has supported the program, called the National

Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, or NSTIC.

This is going to cause a huge shift in consumer use of

the Internet, said John Clippinger, co-director of the Law Lab

at Harvards Berkman Center for Internet and Society in

Cambridge, Massachusetts. Theres going to be a huge bump and

a huge increase in the amount and kind of data retailers are

going to have.

 

The new system will probably hasten the death of

traditional passwords, Clippinger said. Instead, users may rely

on devices such as smartcards with embedded chips, tokens that

generate random codes or biometric devices.

 

Schwartz said use of the system, once companies voluntarily

choose to participate, may spur a range of efficiencies and e-

commerce similar to the way ATM machines transformed banking,

opening the way to a growing number of services little by

little.

 

 

This could potentially be more secure than passwords we currently have, and would have no government control. I'm failing to see any negatives here at all.

[MisterGreen]

There is already a feature in firefox that let's you view saved passwords. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/find-a-forgotten-password-saved-in-firefox/

 

This is just a slippery slope of the government slowly taking away anonymity from the internet. If they implement this and people get used to it, in a few years they could take it a step farther and no one would care. Then the process continues...

[Range_This11]

As long is there is always the option of anonymity, I am fine with this. If you all want to get internet ID's, then be my guest, but I prefer to browse with freedom.

[obfuscator]

There is already a feature in firefox that let's you view saved passwords. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/find-a-forgotten-password-saved-in-firefox/

 

This is just a slippery slope of the government slowly taking away anonymity from the internet. If they implement this and people get used to it, in a few years they could take it a step farther and no one would care. Then the process continues...

Same with chrome ;)

[MirageOfDeath]

There is already a feature in firefox that let's you view saved passwords. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/find-a-forgotten-password-saved-in-firefox/

 

This is just a slippery slope of the government slowly taking away anonymity from the internet. If they implement this and people get used to it, in a few years they could take it a step farther and no one would care. Then the process continues...

Same with chrome ;)

 

Hmm, that screenshot is from 2007. Can't find the option on the current version of Firefox.

[obfuscator]

There is already a feature in firefox that let's you view saved passwords. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/find-a-forgotten-password-saved-in-firefox/

 

This is just a slippery slope of the government slowly taking away anonymity from the internet. If they implement this and people get used to it, in a few years they could take it a step farther and no one would care. Then the process continues...

Same with chrome ;)

 

Hmm, that screenshot is from 2007. Can't find the option on the current version of Firefox.

Tools -> Options -> Security -> Saved Passwords -> Show passwords

[Danqazmlp]

That saves your passwords onto the computer you are on though. The system being proposed has a chance of getting rid of passwords with other methods (as shown above). It isn't a system to remember your passwords, it's a system to replace passwords.

[Range_This11]

That saves your passwords onto the computer you are on though. The system being proposed has a chance of getting rid of passwords with other methods (as shown above). It isn't a system to remember your passwords, it's a system to replace passwords.

It might be handy but why put something this huge through just so people don't have to remember a password? We already have features that help us remember passwords as stated above. No, this is about something much bigger and the more I read about it the more I am starting to dislike it.