Return of GUID.org
When I rebuilt my old machine about three years ago, I had limited time to get things working, so I focused on the essentials (main web site, email, and blog), and ignored the rest. One thing that fell through the cracks was a site I had been running since 1998, guid.org. From the site:
GUID.org is an Internet service that assigns anonymous random user IDs to web browsers. These anonymous IDs can then be used by other web sites for many purposes. For example, a site may use your GUID to recognize you when you return. GUID.org does not collect or store any information about users – see our privacy policy.
GUID.org was conceived back in 1998 when it was still new technology to insert a “web bug” to correlate users across domains. Now that technology is old hat, but I still think there may be a use for a universal GUID that can be shared by lots of sites.
If anyone comes up with a really great plan for how to use this technology (and domain) in this modern world of internet advertising, I’m all ears. I’m sure there’s a pony here somewhere…
November 29th, 2007 at 9:55 am
This is a pretty good idea, as a technology and solution. I think the pony here would be organizing a standard and use policy in major technical organizations to gain acceptance. I’m not sure it really addresses what people are worried about though. When someone is trying to remain anonymous, the concept of their identity isn’t necessarily attached to a social security/license/etc. As the solution allows for a more centralized assignment of “identity” to each “node” on the internet it would likely be even more unattractive to the users seeking to remain anonymous. The guid in this case becomes the person and can be used to identify them (though only through more intrusive interaction such as seizing of hardware or information theft). I tend to think that the adopters of this technology would be the people who aren’t worried about being tracked online. Perhaps the masses wouldn’t much care though, incredibly increasing the value of such technology to the industry.
November 30th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
Good point, Glenn. I wish I had the time to try to organize such a standard and policy, but I don’t. And you are right, there is quite a bit of confusion about what is meant by “privacy” – partially because the word is constantly redefined by “consumer advocacy” groups…
April 17th, 2008 at 10:40 am
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