Do you think having a government ID for the internet is good?

Obama and some others are proposing a non-mandatory Internet ID to prove that you are who you say you are on the internet. I suspect if they pass this then corporate-owned websites will start to require it in order to "be more secure" and of course to please the government. What do you think? Good Idea? Bad Idea? Not sure?

asked Jan 09 '11 at 22:32

zman
3.5k●15●26●82

(I expect this is where you read about it but I'm just putting this link up to help anyone who's a bit confused..)

(Jan 09 '11 at 22:54) Hugo

I first heard of it on Infowars.com but i've read nearly every article about it including Gizmodo's article.

(Jan 09 '11 at 23:08) zman

3 Answers:

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I have no qualms with not hiding my identity on the internet. I don't like the idea of having to hand that information to the gov't just so that I can use the internet. I think a bit more education is in order, teaching people the dangers that lurk on the internet, rather that some mandatory login ID system that will likely be compromised in no time and do more harm than good.

answered Jan 10 '11 at 00:23

KnightZero
1.2k●7●24

Let's hope this and many other laws that Obama and the Democrats are trying to pass right now because of this Arizona Shooting fail. The media tried to paint this guy as a conservative but thank God, it backfired since his favorite books on his Myspace were communist literature.

(Jan 10 '11 at 19:04) zman

I think that if it's only for corporate websites then it's a great idea and will be more secure in the long run but if it's for all US owned websites in general then it's possibly the worst idea ever.. If it involves buying a selling (for instance.. Amazon) then it's a great idea because it makes it harder for people to steal your identity. There's a good and bad side to it I guess.

But it may make things quite hard for people living overseas who may not have one of these ID's..

answered Jan 09 '11 at 22:45

Hugo
1.7k●24●31●51

Not much is known about it yet because it's a new project but from some of the terminology being thrown around I suspect that it's a kind of multi-website login tool and it would probably be for all US sites at the least.

(Jan 09 '11 at 22:54) zman

well the government already has an ID for each person the SSN. But lets face it, that is not secure, i couldn't tell you how many company's have seen my SSN. Schools, employers, tax guys, banks, insurance, cell phone company, cable company... yea, well i think that says my point of view, no it wont be secure, good idea but once everyone starts asking for it, bad idea...

answered Jan 28 '11 at 01:45

trueb
15.0k●50●99●257

I'm sure the Military already has massive databases of info built on our web activity but it's of no use until it becomes acceptable by law to use these methods of control. We should oppose any legislation that uses tax money to perform services(supposedly for citizens) on behalf of the government that already exists in the private sector or is unnecessary for the maintenance of citizens' basic freedoms.

(Jan 28 '11 at 01:54) zman

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