When IT Meets Politics (ComputerWeekly.com, UK)
The issues of personal identity are central to a global information society in which we are routinely expected to conduct transactions with those whom we have not met before, cannot remember or may never physically meet. The supporting technologies, from smart cards, encryption and biometrics to secure and efficient databases and networks, have been in regular use for decades. The reasons for the current controversy over ID systems have little or nothing to do with technology developments: save in the sense that they may be used as an excuse for promoting a solution which serves political objectives.
The linked article is an excellent survey of the forces at work within the identity management sphere. It does a great job of addressing the questions:
- What do governments want from an ID management system?
- What do citizens want in the bargain?
- How does trust play a role?
- What makes for a sustainable and acceptable ID management framework?
These are important questions and rarely are they addressed with such careful attention to history and context as they are here.
Please read the whole thing.
