The next generation of Identity

Article in the Guardian quotes Wendy Hall with reference to what is on the agenda for the upcoming World Wide Web Conference WWW2006

The babies of the future, for example, will have a web address instead of a National Insurance Number. Hall said: ‘I have a vision that in the future when a baby is born you’ll get some sort of internet ID that is effectively your digital persona, and it will grow with you. It will actually represent you in some way - what you know, what you’ve done, your experiences. I guess you’d call it your URI [Uniform Resource Identity]. This is the thing that always identifies you. Every time you do something on the internet, it is effectively logged, building up this profile that is with you for your life. Then you have your life’s record, which can include any legal documents or photographs or videos that you might have, that you can pass on to your children. We will be able to build software that can interpret that profile to help get the answer that you need in the context that you’re in.’

Already anyone who goes online is adding to a ‘digital footprint’, and will have to manage it increasingly carefully, Hall believes. ‘People are beginning to become aware of how easy it is to have their identities stolen. You need to understand what information about yourself you are leaving digitally around the world. I think of it like a bank. Our digital assets are as valuable to us as financial assets: they are going to be what defines us in the future. There are businesses that will grow up that will help you manage your digital identity.’

Great to see Identity having that level of awareness at W3.