27 Jun 2008
Google and Microsoft have launched the Information Card Foundation (ICF) to jointly develop tools to improve data protection for consumers and businesses.
The partnership, which also involves Novell, Oracle, and PayPal among others, was announced today and will have digital identity cards at its heart.
The organisation intends to support "simpler, more secure and more open digital identity on the internet" via the "virtual wallet", which will provide a visual representation of a personal digital identity. The data can then be shared with online entities.
Users will be able to use multiple cards, manage the card information and give different levels of detail.
“Rather than logging into web sites with usernames and passwords, Information Cards let people ‘click-in’ using a secure digital identity that carries only the specific information needed to enable a transaction,” said Charles Andres, executive director for the Information Card Foundation.
“Businesses will enjoy lower fraud rates, higher affinity with customers, lower risk, and more timely information about their customers and business partners,” he said.
ICF also plans to introduce industry branding across member sites to build consumer awareness of the technology, similar to authentication markers provided by vendor VeriSign.
The Information Card Foundation was created by open-source gurus. Corporations were invited to join because it will take cooperation by many important stakeholders - large companies, small companies, online merchants, some government entities and developers - in order to create a shared, universal standard where no company or individual makes the rules. It's like the beginning of the web. How many internet sites put up a web page before most users had a web browser. It took time and cooperation to make it work. Full disclosure - I work on PR for the ICF. We've worked VERY hard to treat all members equally - individuals and corporations. The catchy title doesn't do justice to years of work the founders (individuals) have put into the ICF. Forgive me for believing in the cause....
Posted by: John Fitzsimmons 27 Jun 2008
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