… the ability to offer high-value transactions and services online is being tested more than ever, due in large part to the challenges of proving identity online. The lack of an easy, secure, reliable way for entities to verify identities or attributes of people they are dealing with online creates friction in commerce, leads to increased fraud and the , degrades privacy, and hinders the availability of many services online. While the market has responded with an array of products that aim to address the identity challenge for special use cases, the tools available today are uneven in accuracy and reliability, and are increasingly coming under attack. ..

As the number of impacted Americans grows, the privacy implications of existing identity tools – specifically the ways in which the inadequacy of some identity systems has placed consumers at risk – have made clear that consumers need better identity solutions that empower them to decide what information they share, when they share it, and in what context.

The promise of new solutions here is exciting, as better identify solutions could not only address concerns with security and fraud, but also improve privacy and enable new types of trusted services to be offered to a wider swath of Americans online.

Consensus on a policy framework to enable better identity solutions has been difficult to establish, however, given the complexity of the issues at hand, as well as the extensive – but inadequate – legacy infrastructure in place today.

Quelle/Link: Better Identity in America: A Blueprint for Policymaker