Verisign's Kid Credentials
So Verisign has teamed up with I-safe to issue “USB tokens” to children. The ZDnet story states that it “will allow children to encrypt e-mail, to access kid-safe sites and to purchase items that require a digital signature, said George Schu [A Verisign VP].” To me that sounds a lot like an X.509 certificate, which Verisign has been trying, and failing, to flog to consumers for years. (It may be this.)
What’s unclear is the privacy implications. If this is a X.509 cert on a USB token, then what this means is that children will not have privacy in these “kid only” spaces. They’ll be subject to monitoring under their real name. This damages one of the best features of the internet, which is the ability of kids to go online and explore different identities fearlessly. Read their chatroom rules of use: Cyberdating is dangerous!
At least they’re up front in their terms of service: You are being watched. Your name will follow you. Yeah, I wanna go play there.