US rolls out Internet Identity Plan

[jaden]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/04/with-passwords-broken-us-rolls-out-internet-identity-plan.ars

Just saw this post on ARS.  This is a big issue and their solution has merit, though it's not bulletproof.  If this goes mainstream I'm sure it will be exploited, but it seems better than our current solution with hundreds of passwords.

The final version of NSTIC tries to address two problems: the fact that passwords are "broken" and the fact that it's almost impossible to prove your identity on the Internet. The future belongs to smart cards, cell phones, USB security sticks, and similar solutions—when the Department of Defense moved away from passwords to a smartcard security solution, it saw network intrusions drop by 46 percent.

[Renegade]

the government wants to squelch any talk of a "national Internet ID card" and emphasize that the plan will be both voluntary and led by the private sector.

They're treading very lightly as well.

[jaden]

They're treading very lightly as well.

I noticed that too.  It seems complaints about privacy have had a positive effect. 

...the final version contains an even stronger emphasis on NSTIC being a private-sector, voluntary undertaking. This point was stressed so many times in a background briefing call for reporters this morning that it's clear the government fears a potential backlash against its efforts.

[Armando]

the implications of such an id goes far beyond the "[...] fact that passwords are "broken" and the fact that it's almost impossible to prove your identity on the Internet".
As, mostly...

it would be more convenient for law enforcement (not to mention intelligence agencies) if a more traditional, centralized system were used.

In any case here's another related article