Joining the Trustednet now is free and easy. You will then forever be recognized as a Founding Member, if that's your wish. You can tell your grandchildren that you stepped up and made a difference back in the early wild west days of the Internet. We also plan a special class of user benefits available to Founding Members, and that may include significant financial advantages.
How will using the Trustednet improve my on line life?
Think of your Privacy Provider as your always on, free, personal assistant. Your on line life will initally be improved with the benefits of single sign on and pervasive security. Your Trustednet log on will replace all of your user names and passwords. If you log on to the Trustednet regularly, your machine will always have the latest in security. As your PP gets to know you, it will automatically customize your on line experience and make your cyber life as enjoyable as possible.As the Trustednet grows, the nature of the Internet itself will change. There will be two on line worlds- the relative safety and security of the gated community that is the Trustednet and the relative "wild west" of the existing Internet. People who value truth and integrity will migrate to the Trustednet.
How long until the Trustednet is operational?
It will depend on how quickly people sign on. We will occassionally email the membership with updates. You can help make the day sooner by volunteering, telling your friends, and linking to our site.
Why should I trust my Privacy Provider?
You should trust your Privacy Provider (PP) because you have chosen it as the PP you trust. There will be a number of PPs competing for your account, and the primary way they may compete is by becoming the most trusted provider. All of the PPs are licensed by the Trustednet and the Trustednet Administrator will have the authority and technical means to impound user information if there is ever a serious question about a PPs integrity.
Won't the Trustednet get hacked like everything else?
The Trustednet and its Privacy Providers may be a prime target for hackers. However, it is a robust system that combines competition and cooperation. Every Privacy Provider will be in the competition to be the most innovative when it comes to data security. Being innovative should result in a larger user base for those providers. But the innovations will accrue to all members of the Trustednet as they are propagated throughout the network.
Is the Trustednet technically feasible?
The Trustednet has been vetted by a number of IT professionals who have all indicated that there is nothing really new here in terms of technical competence. What is new is the combination of social, technical, and economic forces in an innovative way that should solve many of the problems of the existing Internet.
Can I register my company for the Trustednet?
The Trustednet is a network of people, not non-personal entities. Non-personal entities like companies, organizations, and governments may be represented on the Trustednet by the people who are authorized by them. So your personal account may have your personal identity and also the attribute that you are President of ABC, Inc. Privacy Providers may require evidence that an individual holds a particular position with a non-personal entity before allowing such and identitiy attribute.
Why Privacy Providers rather than Identity Providers?
In this context they are the almost the same as privacy is a primary benefit of using an Identity/Privacy Provider. The term Identity Provider has been used in the identity community to mean somewhat different things so we coined the term Privacty Provider to refer explicitly to Identity Providers on the Trustednet.
How does this compare to other ongoing work on digital identity?
The Trustednet is arguably a superset of other recent work on digital identity. While it was conceived independently, when the principal author became aware of the identity community, he found many of the concepts were already works in progress elsewhere. For instance, the Trustednet conforms very well to the "Laws of Identity" and "Identity Metasystem" concepts.
How do I manage my data and identities on the Trustednet?
Each Privacy Provider will have a user interface, some may be custom while others may be licensed by a wide range of PPs. No matter the interface, the key is that the user is always in control. You get to make the choices about how you identity and data is handled. The only limit on your choices will be the free marketplace as some on the network may choose only to interact with those who are willing to reveal certain identity and data elements.
How can I be sure my log in is secure on the Trustednet?
It is anticipated that the standard log in for the Trustednet will be Pathword. Pathword is a patent pending technology that we have developed that uses a path and action sequence through a template that may already be well known to a user in order to create a quick and easy log in ritual that is unbreakably complex and virtually unphishable. Even a shoulder surfing video camera will generally fail to steal a Pathword since if may require actions that are virtually undetectable and context sensitve. Once you are logged on for any particular session, your Privacy Provider handles all other log ins as your surf the Trustednet and the Internet.
Will a Privacy Provider filter things I want to see?
Privacy Providers will allow any data to reach you that is not harmful to your machine or the network. PPs will not be allowed to make value judgements on any data. PPs will have to comply with the laws of the countries in which they are physically located, so you may want to choose a PP with that in mind. The Trustednet Administrator will have no physical location anywhere in an attempt to remain as government neutral as possible. Even if you are a Trustednet member, you always have the option of not logging in on the Trustednet for any particular session.
Who controls the Trustednet?
The Trustednet will be controlled by its Administrator. The Administrator will be an organization that is governed and owned by users. The governing structure will be refined as we get closer to launching the first Privacy Provider. The Trustednet Administrator will have no physical location anywhere in an attempt to remain as government inaccessible as possible. All Administrator business will be conducted within the computing cloud provided by the Privacy Providers and is planned to be transparent to all.
How do Privacy Providers make money?
Privacy Providers make money by selling access to their members. Unlike "pay per click" or "pay per action" on line marketing, Privacy Providers can offer "pay per transaction" to marketers. Since they know their users well by analyzing the data stream both up and down, Privacy Providers will be able to precisely target marketing offers only to those users who have a high probability of being interested in them. Since your Privacy Provider will want to avoid wearing out its welcome by presenting too many or irrelevant marketing offers, they have an appropriate incentive to only present to you those offers that you have a good chance of finding interesting. Alternately, if a user desires no marketing messages, they may pay for the service instead.
How does the Administrator pay its bills?
The Administrator has the authority to license and tax the Privacy Providers by contract. It is estimated that the Administrator will take a flat rate of all Privacy Providers revenues and use that to cover its costs. If the Administrator earns a profit, it will be paid to the users according to their ownership rights. The intention is for user shares in the Administrator's cash flow to have value, and that value may be separate from voting and control rights.
What does the on line world look like in 10 years?
The Trustednet has been designed for an on line world that includes pervasive Internet access from a wide variety of devices anywhere on the planet. It anticipates that while the devices themselves may be powerful relative to today's devices, most computing and data storage will be done in computing clouds rather than locally. Your Privacy Provider may operate a computing cloud or be your gateway to one. Either way your data and the tools you use to manipulate it will be available to you anywhere on any device. Data will be personal- you own it and you control it. Your Privacy Provider is the necessary digital assistant that will allow you to maintain that control and ownership without devoting much of your own time to the task.
Your Priviacy Provider is personal to you and serves you even on other people's devices. For instance, you board an airplane by entering your log in on the airline's device at the gate. Your Privacy Provider will guarantee to the airline that you have a paid reservation and will simultaneously guarantee the authorities who you are so they may make their own determination if you are allowed to travel on that flight. Your Privacy Provider may eventually replace all forms of keys, tickets, and printed identiification.
What will you do with my registration information before the Trustednet is operational?
Almost nothing, we will store it securely. When a Privacy Provider that you desire to use becomes available, we will forward the information to them upon your request. If you quit your membership for any reason, we will destroy your information.
How do you prevent people from registering with bogus information?
We don't, but registering with bogus informaion brings no value to the registrant. When you register with a Privacy Provider, they will require evidence of your real identity. If you have falsified your initial registration on this site, the Founding Member benefits will not be available since the identities won't match.
