US crafts plan to make online transactions safer

WASHINGTON (AP) – In the murky world of the Internet, how do you ever really know who you’re talking to, who you’re buying from or if your bank can actually tell it’s you when you log in to pay a bill?

Amid growing instances of identity theft, bank account breaches and sophisticated Internet scams, the government is looking for ways to make those transactions in cyberspace more secure.

But officials must tread carefully, as efforts to create identity cards, personal certificates or other systems of identifiers raise privacy worries and fears of Big Brother tracking its citizens online.

In a draft plan released Friday, the White House laid out an argument for a yet-undeveloped, voluntary identification system and set up a website to gather input from experts and everyday Internet users on how it should be structured.

The website was already getting votes, snipes and suggestions Friday afternoon – underscoring the incendiary nature of any discussion of Internet regulation or formal structure.

“The technology that has brought many benefits to our society and has empowered us to do so much has also empowered those who are driven to cause harm,” said White House cyber coordinator Howard Schmidt in a blog posting Friday outlining the need for better security online.

The plan, he said, envisions a future in which people would be able to get a secure identifier — such as a smart identity card or a digital certificate — from a variety of service providers. Customers could then use the card or identifier to prove who they are as they make their online transactions.