The Internet affords anonymity to its users, a blessing to privacy and freedom of speech. But that
very anonymity is also behind the explosion of cyber-crime that swept across the Web. Can privacy
be preserved while bringing safety and security to a world that seemed increasingly lawless?
Last month, Howard Schmidt, the nation's cyber-czar, offered the federal government a proposal
to make the Web a safer place-"a voluntary trusted identity" system that would be a high-tech
equivalent of a physical key, a fingerprint and a photo ID card, all rolled into one. The system
might use a smart identity card, or a digital credential linked to a special computer, and would
authenticate users at a range of online services. The idea is to create a federation of private
online identity systems. Users could select which system to join, and only registered users whose
identity have been authenticated could navigate those systems. The approach contrasts with one that
would require an Internet driver's license issued by the government. Google and Microsoft are among
companies that already have these "single sign-on" systems that make it possible for users to log
in just once but use many different services.In effect, the approach would create a "walled garden"
in cyberspace, with safe "neighborhoods" and bright "streetlights" to establish a sense of a
trusted community. Mr.Schmidt described it as a "voluntary ecosystem" in which "individuals and
organizations can complete online transactions with confidence, trusting the identities of each
other and the identities of the infrastructure on which the transaction runs."Still, the
administration's plan has divided privacy rights activists. Some applaud the approach; others are
concerned. It seems clear that such a scheme is an initiative push toward what would eventually be
a compulsory Interner "driver's license" mentality. The plan has also been greeted with skepticism
by some computer security experts, who worry that the "voluntary ecosystem" envisioned by Mr.
Schmidt would still leave much of the Internet vulnerable. They argue that all Internet users
should be forced to register and identity themselves, in the same way that drivers must be licensed
to drive on public roads.