All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Web retailers have their work cut out for them if they want to get more shoppers clicking on buy buttons.
A survey, conducted by the Information Technology Association of America and Ernst & Young, finds that while the surrender of personal data worries would-be customers, knowing who is receiving the data is also a concern.
"When people are online, they want to know with whom they are dealing," said Jon Englund, an ITAA senior vice president. "They want to know that people are who they say they are, and are going to follow through with commitments made over the Internet."
The group concluded that "knowing who you are really dealing with online" is a major barrier to growth in the current epicenter in the Internet gold rush, e-commerce.
"We need to work together at all levels and take the initiative to improve levels of trust, confidence, and privacy over the Internet, for both consumers and businesses," said Scott Carruthers of Ernst & Young.
The industry hopes for a watershed Christmas shopping season in 1999, but sees the absence of authentication mechanisms looming as a potential roadblock to unhindered online purchasing.
The survey, released Wednesday, polled 105 information technology executives. Authentication was a concern of 56 percent of those surveyed, tying with worries over online security. Privacy protection, named by 60 percent, was first.
The ITAA lobbies Congress on public policy issues affecting the IT industry, from telecommunications law to encryption.
Last August, the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded a US$1.4 million contract to build in authentication protections to the Internet Domain Name System. The goal was to make it more difficult for fake Web sites to spoof legitimate sites by fooling the DNS system. DNS servers direct Web browsers to their Net destinations.
The contract was awarded to Network Associates and the Internet Software Consortium, which provides Berkeley Internet Name Domain, the most popular software DNS software in use.
Other authentication technologies include secure email messages and transactions in Web browsers using software algorithms, software keys, digital signatures made with techniques like smartcards and biometric devices, and personal identification numbers. Many of these systems also rely on encryption of data, which is stifled by US limitations on the export of software that uses strong-encryption techniques.
Lately, there have been heightened privacy concerns over the use and collection of identification numbers.
As an example of progress in online authentication, the ITAA cited online auction house eBay's practice of having sellers and buyers register with a third party to verify their identities.
Senator Spencer Abraham (R-Michigan), author of several pieces of legislation related to electronic authentication, told the ITAA that the survey underscored a need for perfecting the process.
"We hope to pass legislation this year that will create more trust in the medium by ensuring that various authentication techniques which are embraced in contracts between private parties will be recognized across states and around the world," Abraham said.
The ITAA said it will work closely with Abraham, chairman of the House Commerce Committee, Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-Virginia), and others to obtain bipartisan support for legislation increasing the level of trust in electronic transactions.
The ITAA has 11,000 direct and affiliate member companies in the information technology industry.
