The Information Card Foundation, comprised of Microsoft, Google, PayPal, Equifax, Novell, Oracle and nine industry analysts and technology leaders, has been established in an effort to set open standards for the concept of an online identity card. The online ID would replace the traditional login system of user IDs and passwords and should promote greater security for user identities and information.

Rather than logging on to sites with user IDs and passwords, people will gain access to sites using a secure digital identity that is overseen by a third party. The user controls the information in a secure place and transmits only the data that is necessary to access a Web site.

[A]ccording to Robert Blakeley, a research director at the Burton Group, a consulting firm that is participating in the effort. "You don't have to depend on a password, so there's no phishing opportunity," he said. "The mission of the group is to assure everybody that the industry is working together and that it is not going to be a competitive battlefield."

Mr. Blakely is currently a consulting board member of LoTV. LoTV itself takes no official position on the Information Card Foundation and the online ID effort at this time.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/technology/24card.html