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Completely unnecessary.
Obama mulls government internet ID for all Americans
White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama is considering an internet ID for all Americans. The iden y ecosystem would be handled by the Commerce Department.
By giving the authority to the Commerce Department, Washington would address privacy and civil liberties groups’ concern that if the internet ID system would push through, the agency that would have oversight should not play the dual role of police and intelligence agencies. That would make the Commerce Department a better choice over the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke disclosed at a Sunday event at the Stanford Ins ute for Economic Policy Research that the White House is drafting a National Strategy for Trusted Iden ies in Cyberspace, slated for release in the next few months. Locke clarified the Internet ID system is not similar to a national ID card, but aims to eliminate the need to memorize several passwords for different Internet accounts by the creation and use of more trusted digital iden ies.
Locke said the department will soon establish a national program office to begin work on the project. He hinted that the planned Internet ID could be in the form of a smart card or digital certificate online users could use to identify themselves. It could also be used by consumers for online financial transactions.
However, Locke stressed Internet users could still remain anonymous or use pseudonyms and that the project would not result in the creation of a centralized database.
Jim Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology said at the same event that any planned Internet ID system must be created by the public sector and it must be voluntary and compe ive.
Completely unnecessary.
...but it sure would make it easier to tax internet purchases....However, Locke stressed Internet users could still remain anonymous or use pseudonyms and that the project would not result in the creation of a centralized database.
They're actually optional. You can choose not to have one.
Unless you want to buy something I bet...
I don't think this is necessarily targeting fraud overall.
I mean, if somebody is using a credit card from a stolen wallet, odds are they have access to the ID card also.
This would come to make login into accounts more secure. People won't need to remember passwords or write them in post it notes taped to monitors for everyone to see.
It would also prevent phishing attacks looking for login credentials.
The government's concern over how many logins and passwords I'm forced to remember is moving, but nbadan is right, this is all about finding a way to tax internet transactions.
Don't buy for a second that this proposed program falling under the department of commerce is over alleged privacy concerns if it was the NSA or DHS in charge of it.
What is stopping them from taxing internet transactions now?
Something to do with the anonymity of online users and trying to determine what taxing jurisdictions they should be subject to IIRC.
Really?
How do states collect taxes on internet purchases then?
No idea. Are they? I don't remember paying taxes on an internet purchase I've made.
I'm not clear about what problem this is supposed to solve. If optional, then how effective would it be against fraud, ID theft, etc?
if you buy something from a seller in the same state where it is being delivered you should pay states sales tax....
Thought Obama was supposed to be the First Brother, not Big Brother.
I know this is going to make me sound like a total conservative but...
This is totally unnecessary. The internet is working fine right now, and vendors are finding ways to provide security when needed. I don't think that this ID would fix more problems than it could potentially cause.
And the chances of any sort of ID like this not becoming a PRIME piece of real estate for hackers is nil. What happens if you're iden y gets hacked after this gets enabled?
I hope he fails.
I thought conservatives wanted a national consumption tax.
I bet the banksters are behind this, because they/VISA apparently get burned badly with fraud.
Interesting. Didn't know that.
Most internet companies have software that calculates that based on shipping address. Maybe you don't buy much in-state.
That's the case. The Mrs. does most of the online shopping for the CG clan.
Back to topic, if the govt doesn't need this internet ID to impose taxes, then that's one more reason to ask what's the point of this whole thing?
Agreed. If consumer security is the issue here, then wouldn't a variety of logins and passwords limit the risk as opposed to a single government ID that only needs to be hacked once to gain access to everything?
The article gives some; of course the purported optional nature of the program makes the "gunna tax our internets" angle a bit of a tough sell.
..not if you need a tax number (ie ID number) to buy something...
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