Key to preventing fraud and abuse online is the accountability you get when you have a reasonable verified identity.
This could also provide a single signon tool; you'd only have to remember one user id and password.
It does require public/private partnership, where the government and private sector work together to get stuff done. To that end, check out The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace
...no longer should individuals have to remember an ever-expanding and potentially insecure list of usernames and passwords to login into various online services. Through the strategy we seek to enable a future where individuals can voluntarily choose to obtain a secure, interoperable, and privacy-enhancing credential (e.g., a smart identity card, a digital certificate on their cell phone, etc) from a variety of service providers -- both public and private -- to authenticate themselves online for different types of transactions (e.g., online banking, accessing electronic health records, sending email, etc.).
Another key concept in the strategy is that the Identity Ecosystem is user-centric -- that means you, as a user, will be able to have more control of the private information you use to authenticate yourself on-line, and generally will not have to reveal more than is necessary to do so.
This is a really big deal, and this is the time to get yourself heard, if you're interested. They're taking comments right here.
June 27 2010 at 07:36 AM
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