In January, Gary Locke, commerce secretary announced that the U.S. Commerce Department is in the process of creating the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace. The online ID would replace and streamline individual usernames for e-mails, online banking and other online transactions. White House personnel said this would make the online market more secure. For example, an eBay user would no longer buy books from an anonymous seller. Instead, the user would have a license as an Internet user, with a traceable online reputation.
However, some students are concerned that the ID will act more as a tracking system than a method of cyber terrorism deterrence.
Todne Foster, second-year psychology student, said she is skeptical about the proposal because she is unsure of how the government will keep her private information from other parties.
“Unless they keep this Internet ID private, like super private, then I don’t think this will work,” she said.
Johnathan Reyna, sophomore computer science major, said, “On the premise of security, I think it’s better to have more freedom than security. It might be a good idea for some people in some instances, but it shouldn’t be a one-size-fits-all thing.”
Saeed Rajput, Ph.D., associate professor in the Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences, said the anonymity that comes from the absence of a universal ID allows people to have more freedom.
“The security has to be balanced with our personal rights. If you do too much security then you take away personal rights,” he said.
Federal research by the U.S. Homeland Security shows that hackers are more organized, sharing hacking scripts and phished accounts.
Rajput said that with the increase in hacker sophistication, governments will want more control over the Internet. He said it is in the interest of corporations and the government to work together to create an Internet ID.
Reyna said he believed there could be some negative aspects to the ID. He said he thought if not careful, users could fall into a hacker’s trap and have all their accounts stolen at once.
Rajput also said that if the government can issue an Internet ID, they can revoke it, which, under a mandatory ID situation, would jeopardize everyone’s equal access to the Internet, otherwise known as net neutrality. But, Rajput also said this would enable the government to have control over users who put Internet companies at risk and leak confidential government information.
“If the intention is to use it on one sector of the Internet where the ID can be used and another sector where you can be relatively anonymous then it’s a good thing,” he said.
The ID is still being drafted and is expected to be released by President Obama in the next few months.
