Can a person be sure who is who in the virtual world? With a name derived from the company’s raison d’etre and tagline, “I am ReallyWho I say I am,” ReallyWho.com aims to prove that you can.

ReallyWho brings the public records identity verification technology used by financial institutions to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media Web sites. “We are protecting Web 2.0 identities with the same proven technology that has been used for years in financial transactions and credit reporting. People have invested thousands of hours blogging, messaging and Tweeting to develop online personas and reputations that are increasingly important to protect,” said Bob Butler, CEO.

The ReallyWho technology uses information generated from public and commercial records to formulate questions that can only be affirmed by the person being verified (see sample questions). ReallyWho does not see or save any of these records, and the questions and answers are discarded after verification is complete.

The need to protect your Web 2.0 identity came into public focus this summer when The Wall Street Journal reported that Tony La Russa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, filed suit against Twitter for the unauthorized use of his name. Twitter had already suffered from hijacked identity issues having to shut down fake accounts for the Dalai Lama, Ewan McGregor, Kanye West and Steven Tyler earlier in the year. Similarly, comedian Chris Hardwick’s battle to keep his true online identity has been chronicled by The New York Times. “We wanted to bring a proven solution to Web 2.0 to protect not only celebrity identities, but the identities of everyone who thrives on the social Web,” said Butler.

ReallyWho delivers identity verification in two ways: 1) In-place Verification and 2) Identity Verified Gateway

1. In-Place Verification In-place verification stamps a verified checkmark on the profile picture on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. and provides a ReallyWho link to confirm the person’s identity.
2. Identity Verified Gateway An identity gateway allows people with verified profiles on ReallyWho to display links to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and any Web site they control. Using an identity gateway is a big time saver over searching multiple Web sites and profiles of people often having the same or similar names.

There is no cost to find people on ReallyWho.com and confirm their identities. ReallyWho charges $5 per year (with a money-back guarantee) to maintain a personal identity verified profile with links back to verified Web sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. “We use a simple fee-for-service business model instead of advertising so you don’t have to worry how your information is being used. Also, verifying identities and Web sites is an ongoing process. Names and addresses change, fraud is discovered, profiles change, social media Web site accounts are added and deleted, and so on, requiring a continuing service relationship. We make it possible for people to prove they are really who they say they are on an ongoing basis,” said Butler.

About ReallyWho.com

ReallyWho.com is based in North Carolina’s Research Triangle and is a wholly owned operating unit of BestThinking, Inc., which was formed in 2007 and are the developers of BestThinking.com. BestThinking is a knowledge-sharing Web site similar to Wikipedia and Google Knol that distinguishes itself by using advanced identity verification technology to confirm the identity of all its contributors.

[via Marketwire]