As I contemplate the landscape of existing and potentially new identity-based applications, it appears to me that not all identities were created equal. There are in fact at least three different types of identities, each having different attributes and each likely to experience different adoption characteristics and market longevity.
For simplicity sake, think of these identities as falling into one of three tiers:
Tier 1: Personal Identity - T1 identities are both timeless & unconditional. They are your true personal digital identity and are owned and controlled entirely by you, for your sole benefit. T1 identities exist for people as well as for devices & programs, with the exception that a device or program T1 operates in AGENT mode only, meaning, it is controlled entirely by another Personal T1.
Tier 2: Corporate Identity - A T2 identity is both conditional & temporary in its issuance to you. We typically denote these identities as being assigned or issued to us, and they typically refer to us in the context of a business relationship. For example, nearly every 'identity' we have with a business is a T2 identity, our job title is a T2, our cell phone is a T2, our United Mileage Plus is a T2, our social security is a T2. T2's comprise the bulk of our digital identities today.
Tier 3: Marketing Identity - A T3 identity is a marketing or abstracted identity. T3 identities speak to the way in which companies aggregate us into different marketing buckets for the purposes of advertising or communicating with us. For example, we're either a 'frequent buyer' or a 'one time customer' etc. etc. T3's are typically based upon our demographics or our behavior in our interactions with business. The entire CRM market caters to T3 identities.
Thursday, January 2, 2003
