Identity 2.0 – where does it begin?

Recently I’ve come across discussions around the future of online identity – specifically around the idea of creating a global or universal ID badge / profile etc… that you can reference or link to when you need to. Instead of filling out multiple profile forms for every social network you register for or instead of creating multiple online avatars for your favourite metaverse, why not have one global digital identity mechanism….kind of like having a passport or driver’s license that will be recognized across the web as authentic ID.

Today we can identify visitors through the tracking of their I.P. address and /or through cookies…but the problem is that it’s nearly impossible to track people as they switch computers or restart their machine (assuming dynamic IP addressing is turned on).

Check out the video by Dick Hardt. The video really brings to life the idea of “identity 2.0″ and offers some insight into where or how this will evolve on the web. You should also check out Mitch’s blog entry on global avatars and Mike Kujawski’s article on the importance of branding yourself as an authority online.

In the mobile space we use phone numbers instead of I.P. addresses as an identifier. With people changing their phone numbers less fequently then they would change computers, leveraging your mobile number as your access key to a global digital avatar is an interesting concept to explore.

Recent efforts by Sprite and Nokia’s (with MOSH) to create mobile social communities could mark the beginning of the mobile device becoming the primary digital interface…and therefore a potential leverage point for those seeking the holy grail of identity 2.0.