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Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

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Re: Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

#91
post #11

Actual draft of the proposal from June 2010: 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).

>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). It's not really about spying. It's about a government bureaucracy having the power to control your identity. If Visa cancels my card I can get an AMEX. The CIA has limited reach here.. the alphabet soups can't easily freeze my bank account. But if the government co…

But if the government controls my ID card

Check all that apply:

[ ] State Picture ID

[ ] Passport

[ ] Social Security Card

The simple fact of the matter is that corporations such as Visa and HSBC and Equifax are more trustworthy than the government.

You should really read the proposal. It's a federation of privately run PKI authorities. Potentially people like Visa, HSBC and Equifax.

Re: Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to see more local (at the town level) shared networks. Something like cheap wi-fi base stations (really cheap!) that could link up a local area and have a good directory of what material people host to be shared, local bulletin boards, etc. I live in a rural area and several of my friends are going the self sufficient route and my wife and I are at least putting in enough solar panels to generate about 3…

The USA is in rapid decline? Let me guess, because teenagers use Facebook, spell "you" as "u" and house prices are not increasing as quickly as 5 years ago?

You're on the right track, actually. Academic motivation is virtually nonexistent in the States, whereas in China kids go to school on Saturdays and go to private cram schools until nighttime. A nation is made or broken by its education systems since after all, knowledge is power.

Re: Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The USA is in rapid decline? Let me guess, because teenagers use Facebook, spell "you" as "u" and house prices are not increasing as quickly as 5 years ago?

How about because ppl prefer religion over science. And security over freedom. Federal government getting more corrupt and more powerful with each year.

The problem is NOT that people prefer religion over science.

The problem is people prefer sitcoms over both religion and science.

Re: Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like to see more local (at the town level) shared networks. Something like cheap wi-fi base stations (really cheap!) that could link up a local area and have a good directory of what material people host to be shared, local bulletin boards, etc. I live in a rural area and several of my friends are going the self sufficient route and my wife and I are at least putting in enough solar panels to generate about 3…

The USA is in rapid decline? Let me guess, because teenagers use Facebook, spell "you" as "u" and house prices are not increasing as quickly as 5 years ago?

Not quite. Both political parties represent corporate interests, not the publics. Our infrastructure has suffered as a result of this and too much profit goes not to producers of goods and services but to wall street and other special interests. We can agree to disagree on this, but this is the way I see it.

Re: Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

#95
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>We are going to end up with something sooner or later. I think this type of attitude really hurts in a democracy. Every year people push bad ideas, and we must fight back against them.

I'm saying that the principle is a good idea, makes sense and that's why it'll happen eventually. The problem is the implementation. I'm happy to fight bad ideas. Here in the UK we managed to fight off the first bad implementation they tried to push on us.

Yeah, way to go on the protests of late.

Re: Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

#96
post #72

We are going to end up with something sooner or later. The fact is that we want (and can) enter into contracts on the Internet. In order to enforce contracts we must have identities. Since the Government (specifically the judiciary) enforces contracts, this means that we must be entering into these contracts under Government-managed identities. Currently we acquire and prove this Government-managed identity using an…

Decentralized systems hold personal information about you, but a detailed profile requires merging them all = difficult.

A centralized system requires hardly any effort to gain a detailed profile of you = dangerous.

Re: Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

#97
post #49
post #5

This article is pretty light on details. Here's a quote from the White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt: Schmidt stressed today that anonymity and pseudonymity will remain possible on the Internet. "I don't have to get a credential, if I don't want to," he said. There's no chance that "a centralized database will emerge," and "we need the private sector to lead the implementation of this," he said. Read…

What about facebook? they are as close as it gets to a centralized database. It's opt-in and tons of sites already support the 'facebook id'.

Didn't the lesser known founder of Facebook take leave and get in bed with the Obama White House?

Re: Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so long as it's optional I'm not worried. I've got a bridge to sell you, too. Social Security Numbers, we were promised, would not be used as personal identifiers. See, e.g., http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02EFD71039F... FOR many years, Social Security cards carried an admonition that they were to be used "for Social Security and tax purposes -- not for identification." You've got my personal guaran…

That's pretty obvious. Just in a few month government and every established corp will require those for it's online services. Online banking, paypal&co, all app stores, gaming, taxes, healtcare, insurance ...

Prediction: it'll start with the gov't allowing safe harbor for sites that use these IDs, when questions regarding copyright, pr0n, etc., come up.

If your users post copyrighted material, e.g., then you'll be offered safe harbor only if you enforce registration via the national ID. Same deal for people posting "naughty" content -- which is more insidious than it sounds, because of the overlap between (a) sexual content and privacy concerns in discussions about, e.g., STDs; or (b) in the wake of wikileaks, being hassled about publication of, or support for those publishing, "leaked" data be it from government or from industry.

It's necessary that we provide a way for people to maintain anonymity, but the government wants to offer enough carrots to divert our horse from that path.

Re: Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

#99
post #56
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

This could be useful for allowing various levels of government to provide more services online. For instance, I wouldn't have to provide my social security number to a third party if I wanted to pay my taxes online. Or better yet, maybe they could allow voting online like Estonia does. Imagine what that would do for voter turnout.

"CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR CANDIDATE A AND GET A NEW TYPE OF FARMVILLE CROP"

Re: Obama administration moves forward with unique Internet ID for all Americans

#100
Profile: Sebastian Marshall. Internet ID 353-808-A331. Known aliases: "lionhearted". Primary contact info: sebastian@sebastianmarshall.com

Political positions: A believer in liberty, pro-international travel and open borders, tends towards mild hostility towards regulation. Generally law-abiding.

Friendliness to American Interests Rating (FAIR): 72/100

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