The U.S. Government's $10 Trillion Online ID Plan ('Trusted Identities in Cyberspace' - Issued by the Department of Homeland Security) is a Backdoor to a Mandatory Biometric National ID

Poll: 60% Reject Government ID for Online Security

April 25, 2011

Rasmussen Reports - In an effort to enhance online security and privacy, the Obama administration has proposed Americans obtain a single ID for all Internet sales and banking activity. But a new Rasmussen Reports poll finds most Americans want nothing to do with such an ID if the government is the one to issue it and hold the information.

The Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that just 13% of American Adults favor the issuing of a secure government credential to replace all traditional password protection systems for online sales and banking activities. Sixty percent (60%) oppose such a credential. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure.

Only eight percent (8%) of Americans would be willing to submit their personal financial and purchasing information to the government or a government contractor to receive a secure government credential for online transactions. Seventy-six percent (76%) would not be willing to submit this information for that purpose. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.

Aware of concerns that have been raised in the past about a national ID card, the administration appears to be downplaying the government role in the process but is clearly encouraging the development of a single personal credential to limit the security risks from multiple – and more easily hacked – passwords. Unclear is the role that the Department of Homeland Security, a key mover behind the single credential, will play in the future.

Most adults across virtually all demographic categories oppose the issuance of a single secure government credential for online purposes.

Seventy percent (70%) of Republicans and 65% of adults not affiliated with either major party oppose such a credential. Among Democrats, however, 19% like the idea, 45% oppose it, and 36% are undecided.

But even 64% of Democrats draw the line at providing their financial and purchasing information to the government or a government-designated contractor. Republicans (87%) and unaffiliated adults (79%) are even more adamantly opposed.

Government employees aren’t much more thrilled with the idea than those who work for private companies.

Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Americans are at least somewhat confident in the security of online transactions and banking, including 17% who are Very Confident.

Eighteen percent (18%) of Americans with at least one credit card say they have had credit card information stolen online. But voters believe free market competition will protect Internet users more than government regulation and fear that regulation will be used to push a political agenda.

The latest findings echo suspicions Americans have voiced about the federal government in the past. In fact, 69% of Likely U.S. Voters remain at least somewhat angry with the current policies of the federal government, up slightly from 65% last August.

Most Americans trust the decisions made by business leaders more than those made by government officials when it comes to the economy and the creation of jobs.

Just 28% of voters believe the federal government today has the consent of the governed.

The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on April 18-19, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion polling information. For more information, visit http://www.rasmussenreports.com.

U.S. Unveils Plan to Shield $10 Trillion Online Marketplace

April 15, 2011

Bloomberg - The U.S. government plans to spend $56.3 million on technology aimed at safeguarding the online marketplace and those who operate in it, including consumers, businesses and government agencies.

“The fact is that the old password and username combination we often use to verify people is no longer good enough,” and leaves Internet users “vulnerable to ID and data theft,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said at a conference today in Washington. “Nowadays, the world does an estimated $10 trillion of business online.”

The plan, called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, “charts a course for the public and private sectors to collaborate to raise the level of trust” connected to online identities, according to the plan.

The administration will play a supporting role and let the private sector take the lead in developing and operating the network, Locke said.

A $24.5 million Commerce Department allocation in fiscal 2012 goes toward the development of a network of credentials that would allow consumers to prove their identities while conducting online transactions.

The network, called the “Identity Ecosystem” would let consumers use devices such as “software on a smartphone, a smart card, or a token that generates a one-time digital password,” according to a White House statement.

The effort will include pilot programs to help facilitate the development of security devices.

The pilot projects are important to companies because the government is showing a willingness “to come to the market as a buyer,” said Mike Ozburn, a principal at Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp. (BAH) who has been involved in the plans.

“What each company knows is that they on their own are not big enough” to start this system, Ozburn said. The government will create the marketplace with the pilot programs, to which it has designated $25 million next year, and then will be the first big buyer of the technology, he said.

“The biggest buyer now said that they’re ready,” he said in a telephone interview.

Some secure identification mechanisms will be ready for consumer use in the next three to five years, with the full system available to “those who choose to adopt it” in 10 years, according to the plan.

“The government will neither mandate that individuals obtain an Identity Ecosystem credential nor that companies require Identity Ecosystem credentials from consumers,” according to the plan.

In 2010, companies lost about $37 billion to online fraud or theft, and 8.1 million U.S. adults had their identities stolen, according to a February report prepared by Javelin Strategy & Research, a Pleasanton, California-based research group.

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