Carly's Thoughts:At first, I watched the beginning of this video and thought it would be useful for this project because it defines what identity is both in the real world (offline world) and the digital world (online world). After watching the entire video, this video does much more than just define identity.
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Dick Hardt presents many ideas that discusses identity on the Internet. Hardt states that online, a photo ID is a trust. This is extremely true, who knows if the picture on a Facebook profile is the real person behind the computer? It is up to the user or main site to decide whether the picture can be trustworthy. Digital identity is based upon the website registration. For example, on Facebook, my identity is Carly Rothenberg, accompanied with my real information, and possibly my false birthdate. But how does Facebook know if that is my real birthday, they don't, they have to trust me. How do my "friends" know that the picture presented on my page is really me? They don't, they have to trust me. As Hardt says, a digital drivers license is not possible!
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Hardt, also, explains identity 2.0, which I believe is present today. It is "open and simple." One person can use one account to sign onto many others. I can use my Facebook account to sign onto several other websites. I can use an email address, which is completely false, to sign onto my Weebly page for this project. Yup, my group and I created a completely false gmail email account in order to create this website.
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“Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.”
- Orson scott card
Dan's Thoughts
Our lack of legislation or concern for online identity privacy and security has allowed these companies to turn the collection of these personal details into a major money market.When I listened to Dick Hardt's keynote speech on Identity 2.0, he brought up vital issues concerning personal privacy and trust within the digital world. In today's evolving digital era, our identities are gradually homogenizing with the Internet. We use websites to fulfill all kinds of daily things: talk to friends, write papers, listen to music. We absorbed the internet as a part of our identity, and the effects have tarnished Internet privacy.
Dick Hardt proposes the use of a digital credential services that essentially acts as a middle man for your private information.
When the user registers for a website like Facebook or Amazon, the service will automatically retrieve and analyze the encrypted information, and then validate the user's identity without exposing them. The service would potentially allow people to prove their identity to companies, rather than provide it. Unfortunately, due to the massive amount of data already collected from the global public by not just social media websites but search engines like Google, and lack of public awareness, it may be too late for a service like Identity 2.0 to work without major legislation to enhance the users right to online privacy. In fact, Hardt's project Sxipper has been defunct since December of 2008, and has yet to be worked on since.
When the user registers for a website like Facebook or Amazon, the service will automatically retrieve and analyze the encrypted information, and then validate the user's identity without exposing them. The service would potentially allow people to prove their identity to companies, rather than provide it. Unfortunately, due to the massive amount of data already collected from the global public by not just social media websites but search engines like Google, and lack of public awareness, it may be too late for a service like Identity 2.0 to work without major legislation to enhance the users right to online privacy. In fact, Hardt's project Sxipper has been defunct since December of 2008, and has yet to be worked on since.
Jaimie's Thoughts
What is identity? Simply, Dick Hardt explains, "It's who we are." Identity is physically, who we are, and what we like, and who we trust others to be. Hardt then goes on to argue that identity is "reputation" and what others say about you. Trust is an important part of a person's identity because without verification, a person only has trust that the identity other portray is true.
I believe trust is crucial to identity, especially in terms of our lives being digitally lived. Anyone can use a social network and portray a person that they really aren't. They can put up a fake picture, with a fake name and fake information on their account. It is that trust with the other people that they believe you are who you say you are. Even if you aren't portraying who you really are online, as long as you gain that trust with your followers and "friends" then you can "become" that person you portray to others.
I believe trust is crucial to identity, especially in terms of our lives being digitally lived. Anyone can use a social network and portray a person that they really aren't. They can put up a fake picture, with a fake name and fake information on their account. It is that trust with the other people that they believe you are who you say you are. Even if you aren't portraying who you really are online, as long as you gain that trust with your followers and "friends" then you can "become" that person you portray to others.