February 16, 2004

Scam "unsub" site shows value of online IDs

Scamming spammers harvested email addresses at a fraudulent site that mimicked the federal "do not call" registry site. Apparently, many fell for it, and the U.S. government has issued warnings to consumers. See: Federal Citizen Information Center - News and Notes

Proposals for an "Accountable Net" that include use of persistent authenticated online identification tools might enable users to confirm a site's legitimacy in such cases. But many object to systems that would require online IDs, fearing the loss of freedom that might come with the loss of online anonymity.

See: Susan Crawford blog :: The Theory of Everything

Most of us would not let a stranger into our homes without some third party picture ID, even if they were wearing a shirt with the gas company's logo and carrying a tool box. Increasingly, businesses won't let a stranger into their back offices, (and certainly not onto their airplanes) without first seeing some third party picture ID.

Why do Internet users expect to behave differently? If there was a system of persistent, authenticated identification for websites and email senders, how would such a system be best structured?

DougSimpson.com/blog

Posted by dougsimpson at February 16, 2004 05:17 AM | TrackBack
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