Thursday, November 21, 2002

I agree with Jon Udell's blog entry today.: For a very long time, I've thought that digital identity is the solution to spam. That's one of the reasons I attach S/MIME signatures to my email messages. As a standard practice, this could divide the world into two camps: those serious enough about email communication to acquire and use digital certificates issued by (and revocable by) some well-known third party, and everybody else. Client-side filters would begin by splitting inbound mail into two piles. If you wanted to land in the first pile, you'd assert your identity.  I wish more people had digital sigs and that we could filter as he suggests. Is there a way to make this an easier process? I had to go to Thawte's site, get forms, have them signed by a bank manager and a lawyer who asserted my identity (which was easier than finding others in their 'Web of Trust.' Web of Trust is an interesting concept but it involves you trusting copies of your identity to a complete stranger instead of a banker/lawyer you deal with regularly.).   Trust is something earned. A Web of Trust would involve my friends asserting that I'm me, and by the 6-degrees of separation principle, we'd all know each other somehow.   With the Government's new policy on "Total Information Awareness" it might be time to start sending digitally encrypted email just to do it - and assert the right before it's denied to us. 11:27:08 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2002 Howard Greenstein. Last update: 12/3/2002; 2:00:05 PM.