InfoCard in WinFX

I always get confused, annoyed, forgetful when it comes to remembering the myriad of digital identities that I have to deal with. I am sure this is true for most everyone in the online world. The lack of a unified digital identity has led to phishing attacks and inconsistent user experiences.

Microsoft’s Infocard initiative is about the elimination of the dangers and annoyance of multiple identities. The Infocard system is an integral part of the Windows Communication Framework (WCF) in WinFX. It provides a shield against tampering and spoofing, to protect a user’s digital identities. Infocard allows users to manage their identities from various authorities and use them in appropriate contexts to access online services. It introduces the notion of an Infocard which a user can visualize and examine in user interfaces. Each Infocard corresponds to an identity provider and represents a digital identity.

What does this mean for the development community? Take a look at this guide to integrating with Infocard v1.0. This is an interesting and comprehensive document that provides information on how you can integrate digital identities into a user-centric identity framework. WinFX is available as a CTP for you to take a look at, if you haven’t already.

Namaste!