Major Privacy Technology Coming In Longhorn

Scott Bekker of Redmondmag.com writes:

Microsoft is working on a technology for Windows Longhorn called “Info-cards” that is designed to return control of personal data, such as credit cards and Social Security numbers, to users, according to a report published this week.

If the technology works and consumers, merchants, and other partners adopt it, Info-cards could reduce the need for big merchant-side databases of personal information that are the juiciest targets for hackers, such as in the recent ChoicePoint data breach. Elements of the technology could also deter “phishing” attacks, in which users are lured to bogus bank or other Web sites to enter their personal financial information.

As laid out in an article in the Wall Street Journal on Monday, Info-cards would store personal information locally on a personal computer in an encrypted file. Computer users could then selectively disclose information about themselves to businesses or others online.

Only trusted Web sites would be able to decode the encrypted messages, and the sites would not need to store, and therefore secure, the information in a database. As a side benefit, the encrypted communication between users and back-end merchant software could reduce the need for insecure username/password combinations.

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