Taking the Mystery Out of Web Anonymity

The Obama Administration is trying to fix the Internet's dog problem. The problem, as depicted in Peter Steiner's legendary 1993 New Yorker cartoon, is that on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog. And thus the enduring conundrum over who can be trusted in cyberspace.

The Internet affords anonymity to its users -- a boon to privacy and freedom of speech. But that very anonymity is also behind the explosion of cybercrime that has swept across the Web. Can privacy be preserved while bringing a semblance of safety and security to a world that seems increasingly lawless? Last month, Howard Schmidt, the nation's cyberczar, offered the Obama administration's proposal to make the Web a safer place -- a "voluntary trusted identity" system that would be the high-tech equivalent of a physical key, a fingerprint and a photo ID card, all rolled into one. The system might use a smart identity card, or a digital credential linked to a specific computer, and would authenticate users at a range of online services. The idea is to create a federation of private online identity systems. Users could select which system to join, and only registered users whose identities have been authenticated could navigate those systems. The approach contrasts with one that would require a government-issued Internet driver's license. (Civil liberties groups oppose a government system, fearful that it could lead to national identity cards.) Google and Microsoft are among companies that already have these "single sign-on" systems that make it possible for users to log in just once but use many different services. In effect, the approach would create a "walled garden" in cyberspace, with (virtually) safe neighborhoods and bright (cyber) streetlights to establish a sense of a trusted community.