Ethics Newsline®

TORONTO
“Fraudsters” doing “bad things” have taken over the Internet, and people will lose confidence in the entire system unless an online identity system is put in place, warns an influential Canadian official.

The Toronto-based Globe & Mail reports that Ontario Privacy and Information minister Ann Cavoukian has thrown her support behind a new online identification system that purportedly could prevent practices such as spam, phishing, and identity theft.

The framework, developed in tandem with Microsoft, is known as the “Seven Laws of Identity.” It involves guidelines and digital ID cards that would help consumers verify the legitimacy of online businesses and protect their personal identities, report the Toronto Star and the CTV network.

Essentially, the system will involve a variety of identification systems that will point online merchants to a secure area where information is kept, rather than allowing merchants — honest and otherwise — to store passwords, credit card information, and other sensitive personal data.

According to a report from the CBC, such online hygiene also would promote security by preventing hackers from gaining access to personal information by stealing it from databases.