An interesting development has emerged today. NetVibes, a content aggregator for all things Web related, have launched a FaceBook widget which lets people aggregate their FaceBook content together with data from other sources. It might still be a bit buggy, but I’m sure they will refine on it. It will be interesting to see how FaceBook relate to this, especially as some people believe this is in breach of FaceBook’s Terms of Service. More on Techmeme.

The question is: Which service will YOU use as your home page? And as a developer: who should you turn your attention to? The battle for eyeballs continues …

So, to summarise. One common identifier across all government systems means less work in the short term but is much riskier for those charged with guarding each dataset. Different identifiers that can still be linked with proper authority require a proper defined regime of access control and are therefore safer for both citizens and officials who hold data about citizens.

I’ve always approached the issue from a problem-solving point of view, where a particular requirement necessitates the consolidation and cross-referencing of data across different systems; and a common identifier would be a panacea for solving such issues. And I was also born and raised in a culture where a common identifier was used by everyone.

In Malta, an ID number is assigned to citizens at birth; and it’s used ubiquitously throughout different organisations, both government and commercial. It’s interesting to hear the argument made against a common identifier and I suppose at a pragmatic level it bears some weight. The truth is, with or without a common identifier; if someone is determined to mine information about an individual or organisation, there are ways and means of correlating such information to a reasonable level of confidence whether a common identifier exists or not. Personally I think it’s up to the individual whether he wants that correlation to happen or not, but with the level that technology permeates every facet of our life today; it takes some serious effort to stop it from happening.

Just to give you a taster, here’s the first verse:

The world today is filled with villains stealing one’s identity

And terrorists intent on acts of violent extremity

Our citizens are prisoners, our criminals at liberty

Our nation at the mercy of felonious proclivity

Our very own Home Secretary will rebuild our society

A model of sagaciousness and picture of propriety

It’s patent that protection of the future of humanity

Relies on Mr Clarke to put an end to this insanity!

It’s quite amusing to watch the debate. We’ve had ID Cards in Malta for many years now, and in fact, I was born into the system and assigned an ID Number at birth. It has proved to be more practical than not and having a primary key for every individual does lend itself quite elegantly to implementing information systems around people. The current situation in the UK is that people are identified by a couple of personal attributes (Name, DOB etc) and their residence over the last few years. Not very reliable at all. I remember failing a credit check once, because I had only been in the UK for three years and was unable to provide address details for the last five years.

Will be interesting to watch how the whole thing pans out.