White House Proposes Vast Federal Internet Identity Scheme

[Dave Farber <dfarber () me com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: June 26, 2010 11:46:13 AM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: White House Proposes Vast Federal Internet Identity Scheme

>          White House Proposes Vast Federal Internet Identity Scheme
>
>                 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000725.html
>
>
> Greetings.  The White House has just released the draft of a rather
> chilling document -- tellingly hosted on Department of Homeland
> Security servers -- that proposes the creation of a vast,
> federally-led "Trusted identities in Cyberspace" infrastructure that
> would potentially reach into nearly every aspect of Internet use, from
> financial transactions to comments on blogs.  The White House is 
> seeking public comments on the proposal ( http://bit.ly/c7yZ2N [Yahoo] ).
>
> While touted as a voluntary public/private partnership toward
> universal Internet identities, it seems clear from an initial reading
> that such a scheme is a preemptive push toward what would eventually
> be a mandated Internet "driver's license" mentality of the sort I've
> been warning against (e.g. "Saving Internet Anonymity -- The Struggle
> is Joined" [May/2010] - http://bit.ly/92lq4w [Lauren's Blog] ).
>
> It is certainly true that there are some specific situations while
> using the Internet during which strong identity credentials are very
> useful, and various of the problem scenarios outlined by the White
> House draft are real to one degree or another.  But Internet
> industries have been working effectively to develop systems, such as
> OpenID, that can address such concerns in a truly voluntary manner
> without government involvement or interference, and without requiring
> or coercing individuals into sharing identities across multiple sites
> against their wills.
>
> Let me put it this way in brief for now.  Attempts by the federal
> government -- or other governmental entities for that matter -- to
> usurp leadership roles in any aspect of Internet identity ecosystems
> should be politely but strongly rejected.
>
> I will have much more to say about this in the future, but since many
> people were already asking me about the White House draft, I wanted to
> get this initial thumbnail analysis out the door as quickly as
> possible.
>
> Frankly, the concept of the federal government taking their proposed
> role in this area, especially in today's political climate -- is so
> obviously unwise -- and perhaps potentially dangerous -- that it's not
> even a close call.  This is especially true given the increasing calls
> from some in government for massive Internet data retention regimes
> that could easily be linked with such federally-coordinated Internet
> ID systems.
>
> I am hosting a local PDF copy of the White House draft here: 
> "White House Identity Draft": http://bit.ly/a98rST [ Lauren's Blog ]
>
> You can also download the document from the Department of 
> Homeland Security: http://bit.ly/axrSS8 [DHS]
>
> More to come.
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren Weinstein
> lauren () vortex com
> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
> http://www.pfir.org/lauren
> Co-Founder, PFIR
>   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
> Co-Founder, NNSquad
>   - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
> Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition 
>   for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org
> Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
> Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein



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