Obama Eyeing Internet ID for Americans

[Demeter]

Source: CBS

President Obama is planning to hand the U.S. Commerce Department authority over a forthcoming cybersecurity effort to create an Internet ID for Americans, a White House official said here today.

It's "the absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government" to centralize efforts toward creating an "identity ecosystem" for the Internet, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said.

That news, first reported by CNET, effectively pushes the department to the forefront of the issue, beating out other potential candidates, including the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. The move also is likely to please privacy and civil-liberties groups that have raised concerns in the past over the dual roles of police and intelligence agencies....

"We are not talking about a national ID card," Locke said at the Stanford event. "We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy, and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20027837-501465.html

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THE COMMERCE DEPARTMENT? GREAT WAY TO BURY SOMETHING FOREVER.

[LawnKorn]

1. Nothing will come of this, just like cell phone location is only used for emergencies like 911 calls

This internet ID thing is only for filing Tax returns and making secure transactions. It will never evolve into a unique identification number required to log onto the internet.

All you people using Bit Torrent to transfer binary files, just move along - there is nothing here to see.

[Igel]

3. Probably.

But your SS number was never going to be any kind of government or official ID. It would be a number given out and used only by the Social Security Administration.

It took legislation to keep non-government organizations to stop using it as such, and the reason given (that I heard, at least) wasn't that it was wrong but dangerous--if your SSN is on your student ID then everybody who sees your student ID knows your SSN.

I know that in every state I've lived in the SSN was used as my official state ID for all sorts of purposes.

So, yeah, the Internet ID probably will have limited use, if only because something else guaranteed to have limited use is so well ensconced that there'd be little serious competition.

[Matariki]

4. Just like your Social Security number is ONLY for Social Security.

[Heywood J]

2. "We are not talking about a national ID card"

Just a document that identifies you wherever you go, implemented primarily by the government.

[The Doctor.]

5. Good luck with implementing that.

Just not happening.

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Big mistake.

Those of us who live in right-wing communities which have shown they continually abuse their government positions will be subjected to the same stifling existence you see in communist countries.

The ACLU should be ready, because someday there will be some who will have the evidence to prove that we are being monitored illegally.

[krabigirl]

7. Lovely. I won't be using it. Nt