The FB Bureau is handing-out personal identification cards for a limited number of Facebook citizens, interested in alpha testing.
Next time someone needs to “see your ID” – How about showing a Facebook ID card instead of the documents your government gave you? On the web this is common practice for millions of people already. Therefore – Forget privacy.Can I See your Facebook ID?
With more than 800 million users Facebook is the dominant identity system on the web. When signing-up for new services around the open web it's quite common to use Facebook Connect instead of creating a new user account. People stop ranting on blog comments because they only allow comments connected to your "real name" aka "Facebook Identity" (till the end of time). For the good or bad we are losing anonymity and Facebook Inc. is establishing order in this "world wild web" (for profit, not necessarily for the good of society).
Governments like Germany have released new passports that offer online identity checks as well, but they will likely never succeed with their technologies given the already existing structure of Facebook, powered by lazieness (or convience). The other way around though - A future where a Facebook Identity becomes more important than any governments' doesn't seem unrealistic. This possible future is already half-way there. What is exciting about this, what can be our role as artists and why should one even bother? Let's find out!
Next time someone needs to "see your ID" - How about showing a Facebook ID card instead of the documents your government gave you? On the web this is common practice for millions of people already. Therefore - Forget privacy. The user's next battle is about nothing less but who controls your identity, and we still might have something to say about it.
