The Obama administration announced Friday the release of a strategy to protect consumer and business identities in cyberspace.
Called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, the policy, drafted last June, would create an "Identity Ecosystem" to enable consumers to obtain a single identity credential, described as a piece of software that could be stored on a smartphone, smart card or in a token. The software generates one-time digital passwords.
The single identity would replace the multitude of IDs and passwords that customers use when signing onto websites that contain valuable information, such as banking sites. It could also be used in e-commerce, or to prove identity in the physical world.
"We must do more to help consumers protect themselves, and we must make it more convenient than remembering dozens of passwords," Gary Locke, Commerce secretary, said in the press release.
The NSTIC calls for an initiative led by the private sector, supported by government, to develop the technologies, standards and policies necessary to create the Identity Ecosystem. "Working together, innovators, industry, consumer advocates and the government can develop standards so that the marketplace can provide more secure online credentials, while protecting privacy," Locke said.
