Robin Wilton's esoterica

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10 May · Tue 2005

The answer is expensive technology...

... now, what was the question? Actually, forget it, I don't really care what the question was. The answer is still expensive technology. Here are two articles which caught my eye recently: One on the Real ID programme: "Real ID" cards And one on post-9/11 defensive technology: US hi-tech border controls I must be getting old. When I started learning about cryptographic products, they seemed to me to be a straightforward and definitive solution to an information security problem. These days I'm more cautious. Experience has already shown the current US administration that whipping out the cheque-book and ordering the latest gizmatronics probably won't fix the complex social, cross-border, geo-political problem of defending permeable borders against small-scale, high-impact threats. Instinct, though, is a cruel mistress with expensive tastes. The Real ID programme has a budget of 20 times what has already been spent on the border-screening technology.

Posted by racingsnake @ 02:21 PM GMT+00:00

Give me back my identity!

The topic of "Identity Theft" is a hot one at the moment, so I think it's time to look a little more closely at some of the assumptions bundled up in that expresssion. First, a disclaimer: I Am Not A Lawyer (though obviously, opening with a disclaimer is a good step in that direction ;^).

That said, here's the position as I understand it: UK law distinguishes between two kinds of property: "real property" (or "realty"), and "personal property", (or "personalty"). Incidentally, that's where the US terms "realtor" and "real estate" come from: your "real estate" is that part of your personal 'estate' which consists of land and buildings. I freely admit that I don't know if that is mirrored in other legal systems, but I use the UK example in order to tease out a point which is relevant to Identity Theft.

So, personalty means things like your car, your camera, your collection of Durer etchings... realty is the land or buildings you own. The two kinds of property are treated differently when it comes to the law. If someone steals or damages your personalty, it's possible to compensate you with a replacement (a new camera) or with a cash payment (instead of, say, a unique work of art). However, if someone steals your realty, the only restitution the law recognises is for it to be restored to you. Compensating you with a cash payment is not considered adequate, and neither is giving you another piece of land instead.

"So what..." I hear you mutter...

Well, the point I want to make is that when we talk about "Identity Theft" we tend to treat identity is 'personalty'. We treat it like a possession which could be stolen, lost by a third party, and then replaced or repaired in some way. We need to be thinking of identity as realty, and (more important) legislating accordingly.

It makes little sense for a third party to pay me compensation if they lose or divulge my personal data - that doesn't help me much. What I need is to have my original 'identity' restored, its integrity intact. The trouble is, that's pretty hard to do, once the cat is out of the proverbial bag. Any remediation needs to look not just at 'giving my identity back to me', but cleaning up the consequences of the theft/loss. I don't claim to have an answer yet, but I do think that we are more likely to find one if we treat identity as realty than as personalty.

Posted by racingsnake @ 09:37 AM GMT+00:00

Sage RSS reader

Just to illustrate the comments I made yesterday about RSS feeds, here's a link to a screenshot showing the Sage reader in action. Sage/Firefox screenshot I was going to include the graphic inline, but shrinking it sufficiently made it illegible. You should find it self-explanatory, but basically, on the left hand side you will see the Sage reader as a side-bar. The top section lists all the RSS-capable sites I have added; in a dangerously self-referential move, I have selected my own blog... The lower section of the side-bar lists the titles of the 15 most recent posts in the selected blog. The main panel shows the blog entries themselves in RSS form (i.e. without the blog style sheets, bookmarks &c you would see on the blog itself); clicking on the title of any entry will take you to that entry in the blog itself.

Posted by racingsnake @ 08:54 AM GMT+00:00

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Such views as I express in this blog are based on my own opinions, experience and judgements. They do not necessarily represent the policy or views of my employer. It is not my intention to offend readers in any way. If you find anything on this blog offensive, please contact me in the first instance.
Robin Wilton

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