Digital Identity
Sam Ruby says "Perhaps the right place for my e-wallet is in my back pocket."
I agree with Sam, as I've been thinking about things like .Net My Services and Passport I just can't help but wonder if maybe the right place for this is on my iPaq or my laptop rather then a server. This is an idea I've actually had for a while. At one of my old companies we were working on this problem and the logical approach then and probably still today is smart cards.
Unfortunately, smart cards just can't get off the ground in the US. The incentive just isn't there to buy the hardware to read them. There is however, something kind of like a smart card that people are buying. That is the memory card. People buy them for their MP3 players, digital cameras and PDAs. It's a minor step to write the software to utilize these cards to implement .Net My Services type applications. These cards are so common now that many people are even buying readers for their desktops.
In the past the real killer for any kind of digital wallet on a desktop computer was a complete lack of portability. A smart card would allow you take the wallet with you, a memory card could be used for the same purpose with a little tighter coupling to the actual applications. A little software here, a little encryption there and next thing you know you might actually have a workable digital wallet and personal data repository.
The fact that you would have complete control over the data is a very comforting idea. I know I certainly find the idea more appealing then giving uncle Bill more information then I would ever want to. Who knows, just a thought.
6:52:14 AM 
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