WRITTEN ON October 21st, 2006 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Identity

The forward-looking authorities in Ontario Canada have produced I think* the first official analysis of Cameron’s laws with publication called 7 laws of identity: the case for privacy-embedded laws of identity in the digital age”. Ann Cavoukian, information and privacy commissioner of Ontario. She says the laws are a

significant contribution to improving security and privacy in the online world and as such are worthy of closer study, support and broad adoption by the privacy community

. She spells out- in more measured language than I generally use – the key distinctions between the identity metasystem and the .Net/Passport, gives an illustration of how Cardspace and Information Cards might work, and lists the benefits:

- no weak, reused, forgotten or stolen credentials
- better site authentication and less phishing
- data minimisation
- consistent interface leading to better choices

Anyway, it’s well worth a read and glad of any comments. My new friend Joan** tells me Ontario is also the place where they’re trialling Stefan Brands’ privacy-friendly architecture, for a student-apprenticeship application. Very keen to hear more, and it’s great to think of Ontario as a place where respect for fellow human beings is not just preached from the pulpit but embedded into public IT systems. I used to live there in the 1960s. Hey, we may all want to live there again soon the way things are going. * If it’s not the first I trust the blogosphere will correct me soon enough.
**Hi Joan – I shall model my Chinese suits for you in Stockholm!