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chapter
four: identity.digital Individuals today spend more and more
time using digital means to communicate and transact, be
that sending and receiving e-mail, talking on a mobile
phone, participating in a social networking site, buying
music, booking vacations over the internet, or playing an
online game. The complexity of the interaction between
technology, personal consumption and the construction of
identity in the virtual space is a growing area of research.
Users of digital technologies have a wide scope for
constructing their virtual identity. The mostly nameless and
faceless environments of cyberspace create an ideal
background for developing alternate identities or digital
personae. At the same time, there is an alarming increase in
the amount and quality of data generated, collected and
stored in the digital world. The sheer amount of this data
is alarming, but so too is its nature, which is ever more
detailed and personal. The public and private spheres of
existence are experiencing a progressive blurring of the
boundary separating them. These developments create a new
set of concerns relating to human identity, data privacy and
protection. The notion of identity, both offline and
online, is complex. It incorporates not only philosophical
considerations but also legal and practical ones. Identity
is what makes individuals the same today as they were
yesterday (i.e. sameness), but it is also what makes them
different from one another (i.e. uniqueness). Underlying
identity is the distinction between the private and the
public spheres of human existence, and as such, identity and
privacy are forcibly linked. In practical terms, identity
can include parameters such as a social security number, a
date of birth, a job title, a bank account or a credit card
number. Digital identity refers to the online representation
of a user’s identity, and the identity of those the user is
in interaction with (e.g. machines, institutions, other
users, etc.). More specifically, it refers to the set of
claims about a user or another subject made in a digital
environment (e.g. during an internet exchange or a mobile
transaction).
Challenges for identity management in today’s
digital world arise from, inter alia, the
growing fragmentation of identity (e.g. the use of
false identities), the lack of limits on the
collection of identity parameters online, and
unclear guidelines for the retention of data. There
have been calls for digital identity management to
be based on the use of partial identities (or
pseudonyms) depending on context and user choice.
Discussions regarding the principles upon which
digital identity management systems should be
predicated are ongoing both nationally and
internationally. Not only are security experts
evaluating the need for a coherent identity scheme
that would stimulate online interactions while
protecting data and alleviating privacy concerns,
but so too are lawyers, corporate strategists, and
economists. Governments are also taking a greater
interest in this area, particularly in an effort to
thwart illicit activities and identity theft. Though the importance of digital identity mechanisms is finally
being recognized, much work remains to be done. Information
regarding individual identities is becoming an increasingly valuable
commodity, and as a consequence, its protection and management are
vital to a healthy and inclusive digital world.
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