Recently, lots of our clients and partners have been asking about the development of CardSpace technology, & how it will work in reality. We like to think of it as a ‘virtual wallet’ that sits on you PC, and allows you to select a virtual card that is appropriate for a particular transaction. An important benefit is that it’ll help to reduce the amount of personal data that is held about you by third parties, as you will be able to choose the card that contains the relevant information.

For example, a NetIDme card will contain details that allow you to prove your identity online where necessary, but it will not contain any of your financial details, so if you are purchasing something online, you would choose a card from your ‘virtual wallet’ that has been issued by your bank.

The Microsoft CardSpace site has great information, here’s a snippet… 

CardSpace will provide consumers with a simpler and safer digital identity experience. It will provide a common way for people to manage their digital identities; a common way of increasing the assurance that the party asking for a users digital identity is who they say they are. (more)

Find out more about NetIDme OpenID, another important emerging technology.

Running Windows Vista? Noticed the Windows CardSpace applet in the Vista control panel but not sure what its for? That may soon change if Windows Live ID provides CardSpace integration. more

Related technology: OpenID

Increased confidence – Customers can interact with Websites and Internet applications knowing that their identity is secure.
Consistent experience – Customers get the same easy-to-use, recognizable & trusted user experience across Websites.
Control - Consumer always remains in control of their identity.

NetIDme