Identity Management: The Seven Flaws of Identity Management - Usability and Security Challenges

Identity management systems' scale and complexity, combined with the privacy and security requirements demanded of them, create steep challenges for usability. In this paper, the authors posit seven flaws or design challenges that must be met for the general public to accept and use identity management systems. To meet the goals of building trust, improving security, reducing fraud, and simplifying users' lives, identity management systems must be designed in a truly user-centric method. This requires that they learn from existing literature about usable security and privacy and take cognitive and technical limitations equally into account when placing demands on users.