[ NNSquad ] Strong initial reaction against Mozilla "BrowserID" (from Roger Clarke)

[Lauren Weinstein <privacy@vortex.com>]

Strong initial reaction against Mozilla "BrowserID" (from Roger Clarke)

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On 07/16 17:00, Roger Clarke wrote:
> G'day Lauren
>
> My very quick reaction below may be all wrong.  At least I hope it is.
>
> Regards  ...  Roger
>
>
>               Very Quick Reaction to Mozilla BrowserID
>
> Based solely on the rendition at:
> http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2011/07/mozillas-browserid-aims-to-simplify-authentication-on-the-web.ars
>
> Kick me if I'm being unduly sceptical, but it seems to me that:
> (1)  the individual's key-pair is now one-to-one associated with
>      the instance of the browser that the person runs
> (2)  that browser is uniquely identified by fingerprinting methods
> (3)  the individual's key-pair is also one-to-one associated with
>      the individual's email-address
> (4)  ergo the email-address, browser-instance and IP-address are all
>      tightly and reliably correlated
>
> So, by using this system, a person volunteers highly reliably linkages 
> among all elements of their identity.  (It's a fundamental principle to 
> keep your browser and your email-address as far apart from one another as 
> possible).
>
> Possible reactions of the inveterate paranoid:
> -   'I thought it was supposed to be Google that the CIA owned;
>     but maybe it's Mozilla as well'
> -   'I thought the open-source crowd had shown serious signs of
>     becoming marketer-driven with HTML5 and all the other features
>     of the recent releases of their browser;  but now they've made
>     clear that their products are marketer-friendly / consumer-hostile'
> -   'I don't think onions will be a sufficient antidote to this one'
>
> Someone please show me I've got this all wrong.
>
>
> -- 
> Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
> 			            Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 
> 2611 AUSTRALIA
>                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
> mailto:Roger.Clarke@xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/
>
> Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW
> Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University