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Strangers can build a fairly complete picture of our movements, transactions and relationships from the cyber-trail we leave behind. This has major implications for what has become a pervasive tool to society, business and administrations. Privacy and identity management are fast becoming fundamental to future developments on the internet. Hard-won trust in e-commerce and in using e-government services, for example, could quickly erode if security issues are not properly addressed.

Information Cards are the online equivalent of cards to prove our identify and provide information. The high-tech cards, however, are a visual representation of a personal digital identity which can be shared with online entities. Consumers are able to manage the information in their cards, have multiple cards with different levels of detail, and easily select the card they want to use for any given transaction.

The vast array of data points that make up "personal information" in the age of online media are nearly impossible to quantify or neatly define. Name, address, and phone number are just the basics in a world where voluntarily posting self-authored content such as text, photos, and video has become a cornerstone of engagement in the era of the participatory Web. The more content we contribute voluntarily to the public or semi-public corners of the Web, the more we are not only findable, but also knowable.

Membership systems are no remedy, and they won't stop a person who wants to disrupting your site. But they offer a way to connect a website's community to a real person, and that person to their actions. It works to limit the disinhibitory effects of online behavior (the more negative ones) and creates a subtle but important psychological difference between an anonymous visitor and a known community member.

The Internet has matured to a point where so much of one's life is online that some people need methods of self-promotion and self-protection, concepts usually associated with the imagemakers of politicians and Hollywood stars. As more employers, workers, and singles use the Internet to check someone out, the idea of managing one's online presence doesn't sound so strange.