Some of the world鈥檚 largest technology companies plan to create a rival to Microsoft鈥檚 Passport system.
Passport stores a user鈥檚 name, address, credit card number and other personal information on a central Microsoft server. Using just one password, the user can then gain access to certain commercial sites and Microsoft services.
The Project Liberty Alliance proposes to develop an alternative that belongs to many different companies and is also gives the user more control.
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鈥淎 widespread consensus has emerged that this is a technology that shouldn鈥檛 be owned or controlled by any one player.鈥� said Tim O鈥橰eilly, founder computer publishing house O鈥橰eilly & Associates. O鈥橰eilly said that software for managing user identity and authentication will be key to the design of future computer operating systems.
Passport control
Microsoft already has millions of users signed up through its free email service Hotmail. Other technology companies fear that most businesses on the internet could become dependent on Microsoft unless an alternative is developed.
Microsoft has faced criticism for not making Passport an open technology that other companies can adapt for their own use.
The new alliance includes major hardware and software companies such as Sony and Sun Microsystems, mobile phone companies like Vodafone and DoCoMo and financial companies such as Bank of America.
Multiple managers
Creating a system managed by multiple groups will ensure competition, say Project Liberty representatives. It may also be the best way to ensure that user information remains secure and private, they argue.
鈥淢icrosoft鈥檚 security record is not exactly great,鈥� says Ben Laurie, a software developer for the Apache Software Foundation. Also, he adds, the distributed nature of Project Liberty makes it less likely that a large number of net identities could be captured from a single database.
Project Liberty will design software that can be used by any company. Laurie says that the system may also be designed to let users select exactly what information they reveal to different types of online businesses. A bank may get everything, while other sites only a name, he says.
鈥淭here is a slight technical challenge to having multiple organisations managing identities,鈥� Laurie told New Scientist. 鈥淏ut it is definitely possible to do.鈥�
Getting users to allow anyone to possess their identity online could be the main difficulty in new system gaining acceptance. 鈥淭he largest challenge is sociological,鈥� Laurie says.