Joho the Blog
An Entry from the Archives

Tig's Corner says what I've been trying to say about DigID: "... unless there are applications which use digital id, why will I want to use them?" Right on. We've got a bunch of digital id capabilities already, each solving some real problem such as: How can I trust that you've sent me money for the thing I sold you at eBay? How can I be sure that you have the right to change the way my daily email newsletter from Slate is delivered? How can I be sure that your company isn't a Nigerian scam? To each of these questions of authority and authorization, we have developed good enough answers. Imposing a top-down, infrastructure-wide solution - even one where we get to control our IDs, which is (as everyone in the thread agrees) an absolute requirement - will fail because there is no market demand for it. It will be over-engineered and will bring with it the known tendencies towards abuse in favor of benefits that the market hasn't asked for.

Posted by D. Weinberger at December 31, 2002 10:18 AM