Discussion Time Boys & Girls: US Internet ID Program.

OmegaFenix

OmegaFenix

The Legendary Troll Hunter
So in my morning scan of my feed subscriptions I came across this gem:

Prepare yourselves, my fellow Americans, for the coming age of the National Internet ID.

What's that oppressive-sounding thing, you ask? Why, ask the President Obama, who has moved forward with plans to give each American an online ID as part of an ambitious—and currently ambiguous—cybersecurity initiative that will be headed up by the U.S. Commerce Department.

Now, before you panic about national ID cards or huge, expanding governments, Commerce Sec. Gary Locke wants to assure everyone that this program won't encompass any of those slippery slope ideas whatsoever.

What it will do, he said, is more akin to providing each U.S. citizen with a single online ID with which to sign into multiple sites, pages and platforms. Confused? Great, because this is governing we're talking about here, and that's the idea.

Officially called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, the program is expected to solidify over the next few months so hopefully there will be more to report in the spring.

Again, ambiguity is currently the word surrounding this simplified online ID program, which isn't ironic at all and shouldn't be feared by anyone. [CBS News via Engadget]
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Source

The very first comment on this piece is this:

Being someone who about two months ago got both of their gmail accounts, facebook, paypal, ebay, and amazon accounts all compromised by the same person in the same day (same user names and passwords), I cannot express with words how bad of an idea this is.

I can see the utility of this, and understand why they think it is a good idea. Having a universal log-in for all your federal governmental business is convenient and helps people remember a single name/password combination. My day was ruined by the person who got into all my personal files (I've since changed all the passwords to unique passwords and user names) and that only had to do with my email, facebook statuses, and ebay feedback. I still have to tell people that I didn't get mugged in Scotland (the story they were emailing my friends, fellow professors, family, it was a nightmare).

Can you imagine the havoc a malicious person could wreak on a person if they had a password combination that gave them access to someone's federal loans, IRS, Social Security, any and all online federal applications, and whatever else is managed online these days? It's like giving them the master key to someone's identity.

It is simply a bad idea and actually complicates a system that already works unless the user fails to pick a good user name/password combination.
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Now though I see the point this first poster is trying to make and concede that the possibility exists for a hacker\identity thief to cause all different kinds of chaos in your life, I do see the positive effects such a system could have.

I have not yet had the time to do more in depth research on this exact subject to try and determine exactly how it will work but am curious to hear your thoughts on this.
 
So from the internet being anonymous, government wants to make your real life linked to your online identity. I feel this is just to make it easier to track people and what they say.

And why the commerce department if this is a security matter?

I am against over control/regulation in anything.
 
The idea itself isn't a bad one I guess, but as per usual the implementation sucks. Maybe if you used this ID along with a user name and password. So before accessing a forum/site/whatever you have to put in your username (which would be unique), your I-ID and then your password.

Or even better yet why not enter it in once when registering with a site/forum? That way it would be part of your info, like your age or location.
 
czc said:
So from the internet being anonymous, government wants to make your real life linked to your online identity. I feel this is just to make it easier to track people and what they say.

And why the commerce department if this is a security matter?

I am against over control/regulation in anything.
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Good point. Think of the impact this would have on things like piracy. Also nowhere does it say that that they are going to force the public to log in and display their "real" names. It could be a behind the screens system, where ur online identity, czc for example, is linked to ur "real" identity. Thus should u decide to do something online people in the know would know u did it.

Think about it, link this kind of Internet ID to something like the Near Field Communication in smartphones, you could pay for purchases directly out of you bank account with the simple tap of a command.

What it would mean is that all new kinds of security measure would have to be placed to protect people from those who would use it in criminal matters.
 
It would be like showing the banks etc your ID book before being able to open an account etc.
 
More ways the us is trying to control the net.

I hate the us government. Such a paranoid creature. So if you have something bad to say about the government they will know who you are and boy I hope they don't come after you. Like that kid who sent obama a e-mail or something criticising him and now he is band from the states. Welcome to dystopia. Big brother is watching you.

I know it sounds crazy but have you heard what goes on there(not talking about those nut jobs.) I mean really have you seen that bloody photo realistic airport scanner.

stupid idea and hope it does not get implemented.
 
Tsar said:
More ways the us is trying to control the net.

I hate the us government. Such a paranoid creature. So if you have something bad to say about the government they will know who you are and boy I hope they don't come after you. Like that kid who sent obama a e-mail or something criticising him and now he is band from the states. Welcome to dystopia. Big brother is watching you.

I know it sounds crazy but have you heard what goes on there(not talking about those nut jobs.) I mean really have you seen that bloody photo realistic airport scanner.

stupid idea and hope it does not get implemented.
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Just think what you are saying there. To hate them is pointless. But I do agree that a massive overbearing government is clumsy and superfluous and prone to abuse. The EU is heading in the same direction, unelected bureaucrats telling elected officials what to do.

Every government has a sense of paranoia. China has a giant firewall, Australia also wanted to implement one.
 
czc said:
Just think what you are saying there. To hate them is pointless. But I do agree that a massive overbearing government is clumsy and superfluous and prone to abuse. The EU is heading in the same direction, unelected bureaucrats telling elected officials what to do.

Every government has a sense of paranoia. China has a giant firewall, Australia also wanted to implement one.
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I hate all governments. Look at britians nanny state. They owe the british populace so much money.
And the american government is run by the banks and the british government. The banks have infiltrated the governments.

Governments have to much power of the people. they decide how much freedom we can have. I mean were do all our taxes go? I thought taxes were to make our lives better?
 
Isn't it funny how almost no-one (yet) is causing an uproar about this? Yet when Blizzard tries to implement real world IDs, OH NOES! THE WORLD IS GOING TO END !!!11!!!

Eh, give it some time. However, this is a huge leap back in the history of the internet. If Govt's really want to track us, they can force websites give up their current logs and find out what we have been doing. However, this takes awhile to do and is costly if they want to learn about a lot of people. An ID system would make it much easier to track what you're doing. However, I'm sure that various secure methods could be employed to stop the card from falling into the wrong hands :/
 
Tsar said:
I hate all governments. Look at britians nanny state. They owe the british populace so much money.
And the american government is run by the banks and the british government. The banks have infiltrated the governments.

Governments have to much power of the people. they decide how much freedom we can have. I mean were do all our taxes go? I thought taxes were to make our lives better?
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We're going a bit off topic, but like I said. The problem is accountability, unelected bureaucrats are running things. Your voting has no tangible value any longer.




As to the ID. There is always room for abuse.
 
Strategist01 said:
Isn't it funny how almost no-one (yet) is causing an uproar about this? Yet when Blizzard tries to implement real world IDs, OH NOES! THE WORLD IS GOING TO END !!!11!!!

Eh, give it some time. However, this is a huge leap back in the history of the internet. If Govt's really want to track us, they can force websites give up their current logs and find out what we have been doing. However, this takes awhile to do and is costly if they want to learn about a lot of people. An ID system would make it much easier to track what you're doing. However, I'm sure that various secure methods could be employed to stop the card from falling into the wrong hands :/
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Not when the website is hosted in a country not run by the american government.
 
I really think the person commenting was a complete idiot IMO because, lets put it this way who puts the same username and password for EVERYTHING they use, lets be realistic here. In today's day and age you cannot do things like that because yes it will bend you over and take you from behind if you aren't careful.

I have a different username and password for every site I have an account with the exception of a few, however my passwords are different. I never ever use the same password for another place... It's just way too dangerous...
 
Damn and Blast and Hell! My 20min reply gone. Fsk i hate this bloody network.

/Decides to retype later.
 
Tsar said:
Not when the website is hosted in a country not run by the american government.
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I think you'll find that the US has a way of "pressuring" other governments to release the data etc. Just look at how they leaned on Sweden to lean on The Pirate Bay. It was in a cable.
 
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