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IBM Makes Online Transactions Anonymous
By: Priyanka Pradhan   |   Jan 27,2007
IBM has announced the release of software that will allow people to hide their personal information on the Web, ensuring protection from identity theft and other misuse. The software, developed by researchers at IBM's laboratory in Zurich, Switzerland, is called 'Identity Mixer' and will enable consumers to purchase goods and services on the Internet without disclosing personal information.

Unlike other identity management systems that transmit parts of a user's true identity IBM's Identity Mixer software uses artificial identity information or pseudonyms, to make online transactions anonymous. The software allows people to purchase items without revealing their credit card number, and can confirm someone's spending limit without sharing their bank balance.

Identity Mixer works by allowing a computer user who has the software to get an anonymous digital credential, or voucher, from a trusted third party, like a bank or government agency. A bank would provide a credential containing a credit card number and expiration date, and when an online purchase is made, the Identity Mixer software digitally seals the information by transforming the credential so the user can send it to the online merchant. By using cryptographic algorithms, the Identity Mixer software acts as the middleman confirming bank authorization for the purchase, so the real credit card numbers are never revealed to the merchant. The next time a purchase is made, a new encrypted credential would be used.

The software irreversibly shreds personal artifacts such as names, addresses, phone numbers and social security numbers before the data is shared. The software analyzes the shredded information and alerts the company when a match is found between specific records, identifying only the record file number assigned by the software. It is then up to the organization to decide what amount of detail to share from the identified record. This protects the personal details within other records so they're not needlessly exposed during the comparison process.

Moreover, IBM will contribute its Identity Mixer software to Eclipse Higgins project, an open source effort dedicated to developing software for "user-centric" identity management. Identity Mixer is one of the emerging technologies being publicly unveiled as part of the 'Made in IBM Labs' initiative at an upcoming event at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab.
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