IP: Digital signatures a threat to privacy?

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> From: golds () mail com
> Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 06:57:09 -0500
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> Subject: Digital signatures a threat to privacy?
>
> Dave,
>
> This article coming out of the panel of experts at the Computers, 
> Freedom and Privacy Conference raises some important issues about 
> how to secure information using personal credentials.  In addition 
> to the  issues raised in the article, there are also potential 
> problems raised by simple fear.  If people don't trust these systems 
> they won't be used.
>
> Rich Goldschmidt
> EC Architect / IT Consultant
> golds () mail com
> ----------
>
> http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2523596,00.html?chkpt=zdnnrla
>
> Digital signatures a threat to privacy?
>
> They verify your identity, but digital signatures may also reveal 
> more about you than you think.
>
> By Robert Lemos, ZDNet News
> UPDATED April 7, 2000 1:25 PM PT
>
> TORONTO -- Your ability to surf the Internet anonymously could be 
> lost in the near future, if current plans to roll out digital 
> signatures stay on track, warned a panel of experts at the 
> Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference.
>
> Much of the concern stems from companies that use digital signatures 
> to verify a consumer's real-world identity -- destroying anonymity 
> -- and proposed laws that place the onus of damages caused by the 
> new technology onto consumers, resulting in a less secure system.
>
> "Congress is about to pass a bad electronic signatures law, and that 
> will lead to many of these problems," said Margot Freeman Saunders, 
> managing attorney for the National Consumer Law Center.
>
> <snip>