IBM’s purchase of Encentuate adds to the aggregation of identity management software and services amongst a few top players. As covered at Information Week the move follows that of Microsoft which purchased Credentica’s U-prove identity software.

Identity, age verification, transparency and trust are Internet-wide issues. These issues have played out in virtual worlds and are increasingly viewed as either something that can create a barrier to ‘real world entry’ into virtual worlds or a thorn in the side of immersionists. The idea of being able to toggle your identity is thus gaining increasing credence, leaving the power in the hands of the user to decide whether they want to reveal the real person behind the avatar.

At the recent Emory Virtual Worlds Symposium a great deal of discussion revolved around transparency and trust, with the latter being considered one of the key drivers on the Net. As I previously posted, there were some insightful comments from John Clippinger, who reviewed:

- Attestation and mobility of identity
- How do people get control over information about themselves
- Discussed a broader Internet framework initiative that looks at issues related to these issues
- Likely to see on the wider Web an open identity framework
- Virtual worlds difficult right now
- Mobile platforms will be important
- Global standards will be needed, and be able to port your identity

I was lucky enough to have lunch with Clippinger following the session. He talked about the failure of OpenID and the Higgins 1.0 project, which was released in open source in late February, and whose Web site clarifies:

Higgins is not another identity protocol like OpenID, SAML, or WS-Trust; it is a framework that allows software developers to integrate and leverage multiple protocols within their applications. Specific identity protocols, like OpenID, which is very important for solving password management for things like blog, wikis, etc., are popular with specific users for specific use cases; however, the Project Higgins community believes there will continue to be multiple identity protocols used to support differing identity scenarios. Instead of requiring a developer to become proficient in all protocols, they can now use Higgins to gain support for them all.

Higgins is built around the concept of information cards, which are simply visual representations of a digital identity. The various components of Higgins are centered around helping end users interact with information cards, as well as enabling developers to support identity cards as a form of authentication in their respective applications.

What’s clear to me from the aggregation of large players around the identity and verification sector is that while Linden may have been looking for legal protection and cover related to age verification, it was also swimming in a fast moving stream.

It’s useful to think not just about how to best handle age verification (or, in fact, WHETHER to handle it), but also to lift off the Higgins’ framework of information cards. Implementing a framework like this for Second Life won’t be long in coming, with a variety of players vying to support the Linden protocols. What will be critical to many users, however, is that the handing out or toggling of information on these cards will need to remain at their discretion.