I have recently been reading the discussions between
Kim Cameron and
Dick Hardt, not to mention the outside commentary as well, concerning the use of client sided security and where it fits in. I found this very interesting due to the fact that when I initially began playing with InfoCards, this was one of the features that drew me in. I am neither an identity nor security expert, nor have I had much time to play around with OpenID (that will be changing soon), so I am going to assume my final understanding of what I read is correct and that OpenID currently needs an additional third-party plug-in to perform the same client sided security as InfoCards. If I am incorrect in this assumption, someone please correct me.
If this really is the identity revolution, power to the people and all that jazz, then it really needs to be done correctly from the start. Personally, how it all works or what protocols are used is of much lesser concern to me than what will happen when the technology gets in the hands of my Dad. You can all stop wondering WTF I am talking about as I'll elaborate on that.