Monday, 10 Jan 2011 10:40 AM
By Rick Pedraza
Government monitoring of what Americans are doing in
cyberspace has moved a bit closer to reality, as President
Barack Obama announces plans to hand over authority to create an
Internet ID for all Americans to the U.S. Commerce Department, a
White House official tells
CBS News.
The
plan, touted as the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in
Cyberspace, is raising eyebrows about privacy issues over
concerns that creating a centralized database is an infringement
on Americans’ rights. It is expected to be released in the next
several months.
Calling it an “absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government" to
create an "identity ecosystem" for the Internet, White House
Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said Friday during a
business and academics forum at the Stanford Institute for
Economic Policy Research that issuing digital identities for web
usage to all Americans will reduce cybersecurity vulnerabilities
and improve online privacy protections.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke agrees. "We are not talking about
a national ID card,” Locke said at the Stanford forum. “We are
not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are
talking about is enhancing online security and privacy and
reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a
dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted
digital identities."
Schmidt added that his office will work with the Department of
Homeland Security and the General Services Administration to
implement the Internet ID strategy.
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