The TeleInterActive Lifestyle

Identity, in all its ramifications, is a huge issue for leading the TeleInterActive Lifestyle™ or any type of online presence. A good source for all such related discussions is Identity Woman. We've been a supporter of the Liberty Alliance since its inception. And there are some Web2.0 services up and coming as well. Tara Hunt explores this problem in "Me, Myself and I(dentity)". Some of the more popular Web2.0 services for online identity are cited in her post, and associated comments.

Using an email address as a unique identifier has advantages, but many drawbacks. I've gotten into the habit of making up a new email alias for every online service I join. If I start getting spam to that address, I kill the alias and quit the service. Of course, this practice also breaks the chain for any social networking between services.

Personal Certificates, as used by browsers and email clients are great - but very few people use them, and no one enjoys the hassles associated with getting them, even the free ones or the open source self-signed ones.

I personally think that the old method of allowing users to create their own username and password, with verification through sending a link to a valid email address is the best. The service can also allow management of multiple profiles for that service, be it Riya, or other, and allow an individual to grow multiple networks, each specific to the interests reflected by each profile.

Trusting a service with your email is an iffy proposition, especially when that service is all about sharing. And even if that service has the best of intentions, errors and security breaches happen. This is a problem that all Web2.0 services share now. I think, until certificates, or something similar, become easy and commonplace, using email addresses as identity metadata for sharing is the only solution. But services shouldn't expose those emails or use them for login.

Technorati Tags: Computers and Internet, Web2.0, identity, Riya