Matters

Base Technology | The Nature of Identity: "This proposal is in the public domain. It may be copied and modified -- provided that Jack Krupansky and Base Technology are credited and a link back to this original proposal is provided AND these same use and distribution terms are carried along.
Interactions, whether in the real-world or in cyberspace, are based on the concept of identity. If you send a request to a remote computer, there has to be some mechanism for identifying the path back to you. In some cases your real-world identity is needed for some interactions, but in many cases a very abbreviated 'user id' is sufficient identity to complete an interaction. People are concerned with privacy, so they do not want their full identity used on every interaction. There is also the problem of so-called 'identity theft'. The goal is to enable more robust interactions in cyberspace, that both respect privacy and minimize the chances of unauthentic access. Legitimate law enforcement access is considered a requirement. Ultimately, we're trying to achieve a higher level of security, without sacrificing privacy or usability."