Is this About Identity or Trust Part II

So in my previous entry I had been exploring whether all of this Identity Management stuff was about managing identity or constantly validating trusted relationships. One thing that popped into my head is that since both identity and trust are fluid things, if we look at where the market is today, then we can assess the future now and see how right we'll be... Let me explain...

First there were directories, this is where your identity starts/started. You had been verified/validated by HR so we know that legally you are who you say you are and now you have a record, off of which hangs a bunch of other data about you.

Next came authentication where we validated (or re validated) that you are still in fact here and now are making interest on your identity because you are validatable.

Now we're at the Identity Management/Access Management point where self service, password resets, single sign on (SSO), etc. are all the rage so that by application we can validate and re validate you and your priviledges and automatically grant you access to where you need to go.

If I look to the future then the validation and revalidation process will need to get automated to the fullest extent, which means that there will be an awful lot of data checking going on out there. And now we are back to the same old question - how valid or clean is the data. Garbage in/Garbage out.

This is why I think that trust is the root of off of this and I can't help but wonder - who will be the ultimate trusted authority, who will build the first meta directory for mankind, and who will manage all of these identities and insure that the integrity and the trust is maintained in the face of the anonymity that the internet gives us. Did you ever think that my name was Mary, and that I was 5'8' 125lbs, and looked smokin hot in any shade of red?

Rest easy - I'm no hottie. But I could play one on the internet. Tune in next time when I explore trust some more.

Mark