Editors' Rating
Published: 30 Nov 2007
'I am not a number!' proclaimed Number Six in The Prisoner. He was lucky. First of all, he was fictional. Second of all, he didn't live in the 21st century, when most of us deal routinely with multiple computers that see each of us as one or more digital identities (which you could see as the modern, fancy version of numbers).
In Digital Identity Management, David Birch, founder and CEO of electronic transaction specialist Consult Hyperion, has pulled together contributions by a collection of specialists to explain the technology and usage of today's identity management systems. The largest and most (in)famous prospective application of this sort of technology is, of course, the national ID card.
The first third of the book is taken up with backgrounders on technologies such as digital identity in general, smart cards, biometrics, public key infrastructure, RFID and mobility. Much of this section will be familiar to readers of ZDNet UK. The exception, however, is the collection of case studies sprinkled throughout the book, which make up some of the most interesting material. You can find backgrounders on biometrics and smart cards elsewhere, but well-constructed explanations of how these technologies are deployed in working systems are harder to find. One such example tells the story of Manchester United Football Club, which equipped its new stadium with smart card technology that enables the club to operate a loyalty programme, increase revenues by using customer profiles to market additional merchandise, and speed up on-site sales.
The rest of the book is divided into two sections, one on identity management in business and government, and the other on identity management in practice. Topics include everything from identity in virtual worlds to two-factor authentication (the kind of thing banks should be doing to authenticate themselves to customers as well as vice versa). A final chapter considers the immediate future and what disruptive technologies may emerge. What it didn't predict, of course, is the uncertainty generated by the recent loss of the HMRC discs. The risk that the loss of those discs represents may worsen the prospects of public acceptance of digital identities.
What's genuinely difficult with this book is discovering who the contributors are and what their expertise is — no information is given about any of them other than Birch himself. Some may be recognisable: Aleks Krotoski (virtual worlds), games writer for The Guardian; robotics researcher Kevin Warwick; former MP Richard Allan (two-factor authentication), now at Cisco; and Toby Stevens (RFID), head of the Enterprise Privacy Group.
That sort of privacy issue is discussed in a chapter written by Gareth Crossman, policy director for Liberty. He looks at the government's drive for data-sharing in the light of data protection principles, notes the risk of trying to cope with too much information, and critiques the national ID card proposals.
Nonetheless, there's no doubt that even if government use of such technologies becomes constrained, the demand for digital identity management technologies will continue to grow. Understanding the principles, business issues and technologies is going to be important for everyone. Overall, this book provides a good overview and backgrounder.
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