美國擬推網絡身份證 網民擔心遭監視

In its bid to boost web security in the US, the Barack Obama administration is working out a plan to issue American computer users with an internet identity, a media report said Monday.

Obama has put the US Commerce Department in charge of the cybersecurity initiative, the Daily Mail reported.

The Obama administration is drafting a paper called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities, which investigates ways that web users can protect their online identities.

But Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said that it should not be mistaken as national identity card.

"We are not talking about a national ID card," he said at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

"We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorise a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities," he added.

He said the Commerce Department is setting up a national programme to work on the project.

Possible methods of creating a "trusted identity" could include issuing a "smart card" or digital certificates that would prove that online users are who they say they are. They could then be used to buy goods and carry out financial transactions on the internet, the report said.

White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said the move does not mean that anonymity will be compromised.

"I don't have to get a credential if I don't want to," he said.

There's no chance that "a centralised database will emerge", and "we need the private sector to lead the implementation of this", he added, according to CNET website.

週一有媒體報道說，爲了增強美國的網絡安全，奧巴馬政府正在制定計劃，給美國的電腦用戶發放網絡身份證。

據《每日郵報》報道，奧巴馬已經指示美國商務部着手進行這項網絡安全計劃。

奧巴馬政府正在制定一份名爲《可信身份國策》的草案，這份草案探究了網絡用戶可以通過哪些方式來保護他們的網上身份。

美國商務部長駱家輝請人們不要混淆網絡身份證和國民身份證。

他在斯坦福大學經濟政策研究中心說：“我們所說的不是國民身份證。”

他說：“我們並不是在討論一個政府控制的系統，而是在討論如何提高網上安全度和更好地保護隱私，以及如何通過創建和應用更多可信的數碼身份來減少、甚至消除網民記一大堆密碼的煩惱。”

他說商務部正在籌建一個國家級項目來進行這項工作。

該報道說，爲了創建“可信身份”，政府可能會推出智能身份證或數碼證書以證明網民的真實身份。這些證件還可用來進行網上購物或者金融交易。

白宮網絡安全協調員霍華德•施密特說該舉措並不意味着網民的匿名性會受到影響。

他說：“如果本人不願意，可以不進行身份認證。”

據科技資訊網報道，施密特還說，他們絕不會“設中央數據庫”，而且他們“需要私營機構來領導實施這項工作”。

Vocabulary:

credential: to provide somebody with credentials 提供證明書（或證件）