Posted on 12/11/2002 9:50:56 AM PST by LurkedLongEnough
A national identification system is one approach to strengthening identity security, but a white paper published by a coalition of government organizations also proposes a "confederated" system in which Americans could use multiple identifiers for clusters of agencies and/or businesses.
This approach would enable individuals to sign on to an account once and have access to different accounts among several entities they commonly transact with, according to the National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council's (NECCC) white paper.
Agencies and companies would have to develop policies, procedures and an interoperable technical framework to support such an arrangement. The advantage to this system over a national ID system is that no single identifier would follow an individual everywhere. Another advantage is that there is no single point of failure like that in a national ID system, in which there would be centralized control.
"An organized, confederated system would not necessarily have as its goal to establish a single business model across all 50 states," according to the white paper. "Rather, it could allow states to maintain their own processes, yet establish criteria to provide consistent levels of trust in the various credentialing systems that states have established. Determining exactly what metrics would result in such a trust, however, would be a considerable undertaking, but one worth investigating."
NECCC, a consortium that promotes e-government, released the identity management white paper during its sixth annual conference in New York City Dec. 4-6. It did not recommend one approach over the other, but said they should be explored further.
Because of national security and identity fraud concerns, governments are grappling with how best to issue valid and tamper-proof IDs and authenticate identities while preserving privacy and personal liberties.
A single national system could involve storing personal information — such as fingerprints — of every citizen in a large database and issuing ID cards that would be used across the public and private sector.
Privacy experts contend that such a database smacks of Big Brother.
A national system has some precedence around the world, but with uneven results, said Daniel Greenwood, who directs the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's e-commerce architecture program and helped lead and draft the white paper for NECCC.
The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators has been leading an effort to strengthen state driver's licenses, which are considered the de facto national ID card. Although that group doesn't advocate a national system, it wants states to adopt minimum security standards — such as personal data or biometric identifiers embedded in the cards — as a way to prevent identity theft and fraud.
A coalition of companies known as the Liberty Alliance Project is developing the framework for a confederated approach, including a network identity and authentication sharing mechanism. The project would entail developing business agreements among different organizations so they can mutually recognize authentication. Such a system would help boost confidence along with e-commerce, representatives said.
The group has about 45 dues-paying sponsors and another 90 affiliate and associate members. The group is looking to collaborate with governments and other public-sector agencies that would not be charged membership fees.
No point of failure until the government determines you died prematurely.
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