11–20 of 199 posts
http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/ns_tic.pdf
Note that if [generic scary three letter agency] wants to spy on you it's already quite easy for them to do so (see FISA, CALEA, NSLs, Sugar Grove, etc).
Is this done anywhere else in the world? It is the scariest of the scary Big Brother measures I've seen recently...
Norway has a unified authentication scheme for government sites, but that's as far as it goes. --If the US wants to do that, fine, but if they think private sites are really going to go for it, they're dreaming. I wouldn't trust the government to handle identification across multiple sites any more than I trust Facebook or Google.
Is this done anywhere else in the world? It is the scariest of the scary Big Brother measures I've seen recently...
Norway has a unified authentication scheme for government sites, but that's as far as it goes. --If the US wants to do that, fine, but if they think private sites are really going to go for it, they're dreaming. I wouldn't trust the government to handle identification across multiple sites any more than I trust Facebook or Google.
The UK has a similar system, although surprisingly few people know about it: http://www.gateway.gov.uk/
This headline is actually pretty misleading. From what I've seen of the project, it is not about the government issuing online identities. Rather they've realized that people already have identities from services like Facebook and Google as well as banks. This project is aimed at making it possible for people to interact with government agencies using identities they already have. Some interactions require very littl…
Is it really in the best interest of collecting taxes to defer authentication (and even authorization) to a third party such as Google, or even banks?
It isn't that my bank would change the role of the IRS, but I'd login to the IRS using a strong identity issued by my bank versus this silly PIN I use today.
God, it gives me a cold chill feeling just thinking about it.
Is this done anywhere else in the world? It is the scariest of the scary Big Brother measures I've seen recently...
The silver lining is that by the time this project goes through study after study, development, testing, and finally deployment 5-10 years will have passed and the Internet will fundamentally change in ways that either makes this instantly irrelevant or impossible to enforce.
We need a publicly-controlled identity infrastructure that's compatible with the Internet. The problem isn't that internet ID is somehow evil, but rather the government.
My google account has double authentication now, telephone as well as a second email address, and serves as a central repository for all my other accounts across the web if I happen to forget a password. I can change providers if I want as well. Further, my VISA card is tied to my identity for purchases and donations. But anything that doesn't involve that isn't tied to my identity.
So please just go shove it with your "need". It just makes me furious that this is even being proposed, it's totally unnecessary meddling and we all KNOW it will be abused.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We need a publicly-controlled identity infrastructure that's compatible with the Internet. The problem isn't that internet ID is somehow evil, but rather the government.
Remind me again of why we "need" a solution such as this? All this screeching reminds me of the people wanting a centralized solution to spam in the 1990s via government control or micropayments. We don't hear from them anymore because of spam filters and increased storage and bandwidth. My google account has double authentication now, telephone as well as a second email address, and serves as a central repository fo…
There are lots of services that people want that are impossible to build without a way to prove that someone is who they say they are. E.g. better reputation systems.
"we all KNOW it will be abused."
Obviously. That doesn't mean there isn't a need though.
The silver lining is that by the time this project goes through study after study, development, testing, and finally deployment 5-10 years will have passed and the Internet will fundamentally change in ways that either makes this instantly irrelevant or impossible to enforce.
We need a publicly-controlled identity infrastructure that's compatible with the Internet. The problem isn't that internet ID is somehow evil, but rather the government.