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Obama Administration to Propose “Internet ID”
http://www.lockergnome.com/lumpy/2011/01/13/obama-administration-to-propose-internet-id/
Excuse my cynicism here… I am officially diagnosed with PTSD and a serious lack of trust goes along with it… so it must just be me. I am also slightly paranoid but thanks to Prozac in my drinking water, I have that in check. Then there are those darn voices….
Honestly though, you wouldn’t believe how often those voices in my head are right. These voices go by the names of Reason and Common Sense.
When I read this story, I keep hearing lines from Tolkien;
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them,
I first caught this news over at Boycott RIAA which gave Fox News and CNet as sources.
The post at Boycott-RIAA mentions that this one almost went unnoticed. I don’t recall hearing anything about this on the 6 O’clock news… must have been bumped for a dead bird, Bieber or Snooky story.
I consider the news expected. I also find it disturbing and wrong. Both source articles state;
“We are not talking about a national ID card,” Locke said at the Stanford event. “We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy, and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities.”
Uh, okay… I have a few questions:
- If every single American is to get one of these ID’s how is it, over than in name only, NOT a national ID? Remember this is the same government who once said that Social Security Numbers were ONLY to be used for Social Security.
- By what stretch of logic does having only one ID “increase security and privacy“? To hacker it means you only need to hack one ID for EVERYTHING. You increase security and privacy by using multiple passwords and IDs, not the other way around.
- While “The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace” sounds kewl and official, what sets it apart from services like Open ID? Would the only difference be that it would be controlled by the government?
- I live in Ohio, and in recent history, due to data loss, our state government compromised the identity of possibly 1 of every 5 residents. How do you expect me to trust you with my ID?
- Is this not the same government that want to charge Assange with treason? Was it not this government’s security that allowed the leaks? Uh, you want me to trust you with all my online accounts and such? (I hope everyone has an image of Gump “Mama sez…”)
- You say that I would not have to memorize dozens of passwords. Uh, I have only memorized one password for decades now. It is a big long one and it, along with my encryption key, unlocks KeePass. KeePass generates 128 kb encrypted passwords for me, reminds me when to change them, is free open source, runs on any OS, and has been running on my thumb drive for over a decade. Can I just continue to use that for my privacy and convenience?
Personally Big Brother Uncle Sam, I think you are not the right person to manage my privacy, accounts and identity. While I may not be a security expert and do dumb things, I have a characteristic you lack. I care about me…. to you I am just another number to track.
Spare us the expense of another government program and just let everyone deal with their own passwords and IDs. I do not see any logical reason to trust you with this.
Source:
