it was in 2011 that President Obama mentioned an Internet ID system at Stanford University. The system would belong under the Homeland Security umbrella and eliminate the need for passwords and all of those security questions. The other benefit to this system would be a huge transparency requirement for people using the Internet to troll, threaten and impersonate people.
In the past 4 years, the Tor Project and The Deep Web have made it possible for the criminals of the world to frolic all by themselves discussing illegal activities and buying drugs. Good and I hope that community continues to operate outside the reach of the mainstream web. I don’t think the national ID program should apply to this group of cretins. However, the “Revenge Porn”, Trolling, Death Threats and tomfoolery that occurs on Social Media, Blogs and over email needs end.
It was over 20 years after the Internet was created for an Internet Copyright Law to be put in place. The legal system in America has a tough time keeping up with the Internet and states are moving slowly to adopt laws that protect innocent people from criminal threats online. You can have your phone hacked, explicit photos stolen and put online with your home address and ‘rape threats’ and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it outside of civil courts. The billions of dollars a year in value Internet companies have in commerce, advertising and content distribution and there are so few laws to protect the people using this remarkable invention.
The ideal way I see a national ID system playing out:
- At birth, you’re given a social-security number and Internet number at the same time. They’re linked to each other. The government will not sell your data or use unless there is a warrant related to a criminal investigation. The warrant allows our government to only receive certain info. Phone location, email history, chats, sites visited…these are all separate individual buckets that can be checked but only special circumstances would be required for an agency to access all of these points.
- Registration for every website with a server located in USA will require your email address along with your ID card number and a password. The ID number is a requirement for password resets.
- That website does a quick check with the federal ID database (similar to a credit check). They make sure you’re authorized to sign up for a site in one of hundreds of unique categories.
- Ex. Convicted felons can’t join firearm trading forums, convicted sex offenders can’t join chat rooms and people sentenced to 5 years without Internet access due to hacking charges won’t be able to access any Internet site
- For the most part, you use Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Gmail like you do today. The ID card number is stored securely and if you are threatening someone’s life and they report it, it allows the service to report this ID # to the proper agency. Police come to your house and arrest you if local law has a statute for Digital Threats / harassment.
The web itself would be similar to how it is today. The NSA would still collect tons of information on us, likely far less anonymously and the Internet would still remain very optional for people who are against the ID law. You could still use Google.com to search for things without an ID card but once you are joining a service, the ID is required to verify who you are and, if you do something illegal, you pay the price for that.
When “SendMeNudes59” post an ex-GF’s personal address on Reddit along with nude photos, they are found quickly and prosecuted. I have nothing against this at all and it aligns very well with my 6 year long battle against the anonymous Internet that we have today. As the Internet is used by more people outside of Uber-nerds, the worse off trolling will be.
I’m not asking everyone to do as I do and use their first and last name online. I’m simply asking that there are repercussions when a human threatens another or confesses to a violent crime.