Jaco Aizenman just wrote me via the Anonymity group of orkut asking for

any comments you may have on Virtual Rights and Virtual Identity.

Details on:
http://www.nephridium.org/virtualrights/

Virtual Rights:

1. To have a Virtual Identity
2. Not to have a Virtual Identity

The project looks fascinating, but I'm under such a deadline that I don't have time to look at it much now, nor even read the paper. First thoughts: I think of one's rights more like:

1. right to have access to profile data others keep e.g., bank, credit card, DMV, grocery club card, ... (this step only needed until one gains control over their ID)
2. ability to assert control over usage of one's profile (we're building a mechanism to do this now using the new OASIS standards XRI and XDI
3. right to speak freely and without fear of retribution (via anonymous or pseudonymous nym)
4. ability to assert ownership (authenticated) over self-created pseudonymous data

There's a lot more to say on this, but here are some links for further reading:

• http://www.planetwork.net/idcommons/ - good overview of what we're up to
• http://xrixdi.idcommons.net/ - used by the OASIS technical committee. See especially the XdiGlossary and XdiUseCases
• http://wiki.idcommons.net/ - The ID Commons wiki. Check out the SSXDI project to see what we're working on now
• http://www.openprivacy.org/ - old but still relevant