Smart Card Alliance forms Identity Council

Mar 6, 2006 3:12 PM

As secure identities have become a critically important issue for citizens, governments and enterprises in the information age, the Smart Card Alliance has formed an Identity Council that will work to promote the need for better use of technologies, policies and usage solutions regarding human identity information.
To help explain the Council's charter and mission, the group has issued a free white paper entitled "The Top 10 Hot Identity Topics." The paper discusses top challenges associated with current identity systems and offers perspectives on how these critical issues can be addressed through policy, identity proofing processes and technology solutions.
Key issues addressed in the white paper include:
* Identity theft -- when you don't own your identity
* The balance between privacy and security over identity information
* Technology's role in protecting identity
* How to prove your identity -- the problem with breeder documents and identity verification
"Within the identity protection and security industry, we face not only growing challenges related to protection of online consumer and business information, but also challenges related to making accurate, relevant information available to corporations, government and the public," says Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Alliance.
Some of the primary objectives of the Identity Council are: maintaining an informed and active public voice that defines the positive aspects of identity technology solutions and responds to any public concerns regarding appropriate usage of identity technology; being an educational and informational resource for industry on technology solutions and their impact on identity management; and representing the smart card industry on appropriate methods of gathering, managing, protecting, and distributing secure identity information for use in government and commercial applications.
The Council will also help to unite a very diverse identity security industry, including companies that provide smart cards, biometrics, identity management systems and logical and physical access solutions through collaborative projects and work group meetings focusing on identity issues. Major industry issues that will be discussed by the Identity Council include RFID and contactless smart card technology differentiation, secure credentialing, multi-factor authentication, driver's licenses, travel identity, federated identity solutions, and standards and interoperability.
Twenty Smart Card Alliance member organizations are currently participating in the Identity Council, with Martin Dugan, Viisage, and Neville Pattinson, Axalto, the initial Council co-chairs. Contributors to the new white paper include: Axalto, Inc., Booz Allen Hamilton, Datacard Group, Fargo Electronics, Hitachi America Ltd., IBM, International Biometric Industry Association, Saflink, Texas Instruments and Viisage.
Identity Council participation is open to any Smart Card Alliance member who wishes to contribute to the Council projects.

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