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1USA Customer Newsletter |
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Privacy advocates asked the U.S. government to investigate Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows XP operating system and Passport, its Internet identity service, claiming they coerce users into revealing sensitive personal information with little control over how it will be used. JUST SAY NO TO MS Windows XP and PASSPORT
Author: Jonathan Yearden is a senior UNIX system administrator, network security manager, and senior software architect. Jon is also a member of the FBI InfraGard program, a partnership between the FBI and the private sector. At the risk of sounding uninformed, I'm still trying to figure out what all the fuss is about Microsoft Passport. Although I understand the basics of Passport, I continue to have nagging questions and concerns about the service. When I turned to some of my Windows-savvy peers recently for enlightenment about the value of Passport, I received conflicting responses. That's when I decided that the best way to answer my lingering doubts was to research the service myself. My first stop was the Passport Web site, which states that Passport consists of four main services: a single sign-in service, a wallet service, a kids' service, and a Public Profiles service. http://www.passport.com/Consumer/ SINGLE SIGN-IN SERVICE I delved into the single sign-in service first. At first glance, this looks like a good idea because it allows you to have a single username and password to access any website that is paying Microsoft to be listed on the Passport service. Apparently, once you sign into a Passport-enabled site, you can "sign in to any other participating site with just one click, and without having to retype information." This sounds like a neat, timesaving feature, but there is an obvious potential for abuse here, since the whole purpose of using authentication is to restrict access. Yet the service suggests that the elimination of username and password verification is its primary benefit. A red flag to me is that someone could masquerade as another person using their computer once they had logged on to a Passport-enabled site. This particular service presents too much of a potential for abuse for me. Even though I still prefer manual authentication, some people will like this feature; just remember that it only works for Passport- enabled Web sites. WALLET SERVICE The Passport Web site provides this analogy for the wallet service: "Your Passport wallet is much like the wallet you carry around in your back pocket or your purse." That's actually not true. When carrying your wallet or purse, you know where it is: on your person. The Passport wallet service, on the other hand, stores your information in a database at Microsoft. My concern is the sheer amount of personal information stored in this database system. Although this could also be said for other online services, such as eBay and Amazon, yet those two online giants don't both share a "master" database of this information. I think I'll pass on this service too. KIDS PASSPORT SERVICE I browsed at the Web site for the Kids Passport service for a bit, but I was frustrated because a lot of content was stuffed into JavaScript pop-up windows. This is problematic for me because I don't browse untrusted web sites with JavaScript enabled (and I advise all of you to do the same). http://kids.passport.com/ The Kids Passport service appears to be a way to configure a profile for a child that allows Web sites that use Passport to quickly and easily comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Honestly, I stopped looking into the Kids Passport service when I discovered some disturbing content here. Click on Setting Up A Kids Passport Account and read the part about the use of credit cards for identification in the pop-up window. Using a credit card to identify that someone is an adult is just plain stupid. I guess I won't be utilizing Kids Passport either. http://kids.passport.com/Help.asp PUBLIC FOLDERS FEATURE SERVICE Lastly, I glanced over the Public Profiles feature. I use the phrase "glanced over" because you must have a Passport account to view the information in Passport Public Profiles. In all honesty, I can't analyze this system since I don't want to obtain a Passport. From the looks of it though, the Public Folders Passport feature allows Passport users to put personal information online for others to see. Since identity theft is on the rise because people are collecting information directly from the Internet, count me out on this one too. THE VERDICT Despite the fact that the Passport service may serve a purpose to some people, it's not for me. And since Passport registration is part of the Windows XP registration, it doesn't look like I'll be using XP. My opinion about Passport is consistent with the objections from privacy groups like the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). (For more information about the EPIC's stance on the topic, read this CNN article.) I'm leery about the possibility of the misuse of information collected by Microsoft on me and my family via Passport. http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/07/27/microsoft.reut/ Ultimately, companies and consumers will decide the fate of Microsoft Passport. If no one buys Windows XP, Microsoft will likely get the message. |
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