Re: LinkedIn password database compromised

[Tony Finch <dot () dotat at>]

Tei <oscar.vives () gmail com> wrote:

> Anonymity on the Internet is a feature, because a lot of the world
> netcitizens come from countries where saying this or that is a crime,
> and can get you in trouble.

Note that you need to make a distinction between pseudonymity and
anonymity. In most online situations anonymity is not useful, because you
want a service to be able to identify you as the same person when you go
away and come back later. You want the service to attach a pseudonym to
you, and you want to be in control of whether this pseudonym is linked to
your identities at other services or in the real world.

Whether you authenticate your pseudonym with a password or a cryptographic
key is immaterial, provided the key store supports unlinked identities -
i.e. it must not require you to use the same key for everything. A good
key store makes it easier to decouple your identities at different
services than remembering N different username + password pairs.

Tony.
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