The Liberty Alliance, a group led by Sun Microsystems which also
includes companies as diverse as American Express, United Airlines,
Nokia and General Motors, has made available its specifications for
secure web services. The specifications are part of a project that
aims to boost internet security and provide alternatives to
Microsoft products, notably Passport.
The Liberty version 1.0 specifications focus on interoperability
between systems. They enable opt-in account linking and simplified
sign-on functionality, allowing users to decide whether to link
accounts with various identity providers.
According to the Liberty Alliance, the specifications allow
businesses to connect heterogeneous systems in order to handle
identification and authorisation in a more efficient and controlled
manner.
The aim of Liberty Alliance is to allow consumers to create a
digital identity for themselves on the internet. Microsoft, the
first company to develop its own digital identity software in the
form of MS Passport, has declined to participate in the Liberty
Alliance Project.
The specifications are published openly to give all companies
the opportunity to develop compatible products.
A spokesman for the Liberty alliance said:
“Less than a year after the Liberty Alliance
Project was formed, we’ve made solid progress in delivering a
secure, technologically agnostic identification solution that can
support a wide range of identity products and network devices.
We’ve done this by not only leveraging the best existing
industry-support standards when possible, but also relying on the
combined experience of our many member companies.”
