Online Identity
Proving internet identity has been an issue ever since our technology has become all about social experience.
How do you prove who you are online?
In real life we have a number of identifiers, pieces of ID, even our visual looks that identify who we are. Online, we have usernames and passwords. Type those into a website and the website lets you assert that you are the same person when you were there before. It's assuming you are the same person. Or when you are purchasing something online, you get an email to verify that indeed that is you who has made an online purchase. Again, so far that has been the way websites were able to verify your identity.
AOL has announced that it now has experimental OpenID server support. This means that every AOL user has an OpenID identifier. An OpenID is a framework for user-centric online identity. Basically, you are given an URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), which is similar to a website URL and you as an individual can identify yourself on the web the same way that websites do it - through a server.
First you need to claim a URL. Since everyone seems to use the same username and password, the username becomes your URL and the password protects and stores all your credentials.
AOL is not the only company who has been playing around with this technology. Sxip Identity, a Vancouver-based web 2.0 company has been trying to solve internet identity. In an interview with Sxip founder & CEO, Dick Hardt, I found out that Sxip along with British Columbia government are trying to use identity to enable citizens to an easier way of identifying themselves - to create those credentials.
The technology is there, can you imagine how it will change the way we socialize and do business online?
Will this be an end to forgotten passwords and online identity thefts?
How do you prove who you are online?
In real life we have a number of identifiers, pieces of ID, even our visual looks that identify who we are. Online, we have usernames and passwords. Type those into a website and the website lets you assert that you are the same person when you were there before. It's assuming you are the same person. Or when you are purchasing something online, you get an email to verify that indeed that is you who has made an online purchase. Again, so far that has been the way websites were able to verify your identity.
AOL has announced that it now has experimental OpenID server support. This means that every AOL user has an OpenID identifier. An OpenID is a framework for user-centric online identity. Basically, you are given an URI (Uniform Resource Identifier), which is similar to a website URL and you as an individual can identify yourself on the web the same way that websites do it - through a server.
First you need to claim a URL. Since everyone seems to use the same username and password, the username becomes your URL and the password protects and stores all your credentials.
AOL is not the only company who has been playing around with this technology. Sxip Identity, a Vancouver-based web 2.0 company has been trying to solve internet identity. In an interview with Sxip founder & CEO, Dick Hardt, I found out that Sxip along with British Columbia government are trying to use identity to enable citizens to an easier way of identifying themselves - to create those credentials.
The technology is there, can you imagine how it will change the way we socialize and do business online?
Will this be an end to forgotten passwords and online identity thefts?
posted by Anna Kat at 8:26 PM
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