What is identity? The OSCON 2005 Keynote – Identity 2.0 by Dick Hardt of Sxip Identity is a neat and short presentation on identity on the web. The presentation is obviously aimed at promoting SXIP (Simple eXtensible Identity Protocol) technologies, but still is an amusing and short intro to identity 2.0 (online identity for the web 2.0). The presentation is interesting in a number of ways:
- The presentation style and use of lots of simple slides that flip rapidly is engaging. I’m not sure I could perform the way Dick Hardt does without losing the synchronization of slides and text.
- It presents a clear case for how identity should work online – how it should work like using a driver’s license to prove age at a liquor store. At the moment each site from Amazon to iTunes has its own identity directory. I have to get an account on each one. Identity 2.0 should allow me to get identities from different providers and use them for different services. Thus I could get one from a bank that covers my financial identity and then use it for buying things. (I think that’s the idea.)
- The presentation also presents a pragmatic view of what identity is in general – who you think you are, what others think of you, and what you can prove using trusted identity providers like the government.
Thanks to Shawn for this.