As mentioned
previously, everybody has a strong interest in controlling
the identity context in his or her transactions. For that reason,
the absence of a constraining standard is exactly what allows
businesses to adopt their own solutions. Chapter 1, ???The
Problem,??? is full of examples of those identity one-offs. The
Internet does not have an identity layer, and this is one of the
key reasons behind all the problems we have with authentication
today. But if the Internet didhave a native identity layer,
and it was not expressive enough for allowing businesses to
enforce their requirements, it would be reasonable to expect the
rise of proprietary alternatives. Back to square one.
The different views on what identity is or what an identity layer
should do are the reason why a common solution didn??™t spontaneously
arise, and it is not plausible to expect this to happen
Controlling how
identity is managed
is appealing to
many
AWorld Without a Center 91
anytime soon. Perhaps more important, that is also an indication
of what a universal identity layer should look like. It will need to
have enough expressive power so that present and future businesses
will be able to use it according to their needs; otherwise,
it will face the same fate of existing schemes.
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