One Ring To Rule Them All

Hey, where have I heard this before?

Imagine–one secure credential that you can use to shop online, bank, even get quick information about what to do during natural disasters or other emergencies.

Good idea? The Obama administration thinks so and announced a plan on Friday to achieve it.

It’s a little thin on details, but the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace envisions a day when people conducting online activity no longer have to rely on passwords, which can be hard to remember or can be hacked.

Instead, people will be able to get a secure credential in the form of a smart card or a USB thumb drive, which will carry their personal information and can be used to authenticate their identity online.

Instead of your papers, please, it will be your plastic, please. Make no mistake, this is a national ID sneaking in the back door.

I know, there are reasonable arguments for a national ID card, but I don’t think they trump the risk of abuse by government officials who would have a great deal of ability to track the citizens. Whether as a matter of policy or simply because bad apples could, they would dip into that data with less innocent intent than proponents would argue.

Thanks, but I’ll stick with using my children’s names as passwords and writing them on Post-It notes so I don’t forget.

Buy My Books!
Buy John Donnelly's Gold Buy The Courtship of Barbara Holt Buy Coffee House Memories