The Identity Crisis Security, Privacy and Usability Issues in Identity Management

This paper studies the current 'Identity crisis' caused by the substantial security, privacy and usability shortcomings encountered in existing systems for identity management. Some of these issues are well known, while others are much less understood. This paper brings them together in a single, comprehensive study and proposes recommendations to resolve or to mitigate the problems. Some of these problems cannot be solved without substantial research and development effort. Identity management consists of the processes and all underlying technologies for the creation, management, and usage of digital identities.