What is Identity?

In this article we will discuss about "identity" in context with computer systems, the digital world. However we will relate the "digital identity" with "social identity" and "internet identity".

Initial days of computing the computer systems were stand alone and usually operated by a single operator. In that era there was no requirement to identify who has done what and where ? As a operator was associated with a specific computer. The name of operator and name of computer were sufficient enough to establish the identities of human as well as computer.

Later a single computer was shared by multiple operator. It became a challenge to separate activity of one operator with other operator. This challenge was solved by assigning a unique username to each human operator combined with a unique password which was known to that  operator. This unique username in combination with the password became the identity of human operator on that computer. Before use of a computer the operator needs to identify himself by presenting his identity which is a combination of "username and password". The process which identifies a user by validation of his credentials (username and password) is called "authentication".

However complexity kept on increasing, computers became interconnected. It required two aspects, identity of computers as well as identities of human operators shared across multiple computers.

In technical terminology the human operator, the computer systems are called agents. As the technology progressed, computer system and network evolved; the number and category of these agents also increased. In modern era these agents include person, organization, application, or device.

So what is an identity ?

A digital identity is information on an entity used by computer systems to represent an external agent. That agent may be a person, organization, application, or device. ISO/IEC 24760-1 defines identity as "set of attributes related to an entity".

The term "digital identity" also denotes certain aspects of civil and "personal identity" that have resulted from the widespread use of identity information to represent people in an acceptable and trusted digital format in computer systems.

Personal identity 

Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of a person over time. Discussions regarding personal identity typically aim to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time can be said to be the same person, persisting through time.

In philosophy, the problem of personal identity is concerned with how one is able to identify a single person over a time interval, dealing with such questions as, "What makes it true that a person at one time is the same thing as a person at another time?" or "What kinds of things are we persons?"

Digital identity

Digital identity is now often used in ways that require data about persons stored in computer systems to be linked to their civil, or national, identities. Furthermore, the use of digital identities are now so widespread that many discussions refer to "digital identity" as the entire collection of information generated by a person’s online activity. This includes usernames and passwords, online search activities, birth date, social security, and purchasing history. Especially where that information is publicly available and not anonymized, and can be used by others to discover that person's civil identity. In this wider sense, a digital identity is a version, or facet, of a person's social identity. This may also be referred to as an online identity. With self-sovereign identity (SSI) the user has a means of generating and controlling unique identifiers as well as some facility to store identity data.

The legal and social effects of digital identity are complex and challenging. However, they are simply a consequence of the increasing use of computers, and the need to provide computers with information that can be used to identify external agents.

The information contained in a digital identity allows for assessment and authentication of a user interacting with a business system on the web, without the involvement of human operators. Digital identities allow our access to computers and the services they provide to be automated, and make it possible for computers to mediate relationships.

Subject and entity

A digital identity may also be referred to as a digital subject or digital entity and is the digital representation of a set of claims made by one party about itself or another person, group, thing or concept.

Attributes, preferences and traits

Every digital identity has zero or more identity attributes. Attributes are acquired and contain information about a subject, such as medical history, purchasing behavior, bank balance, age and so on. Preferences retain a subject's choices such as favorite brand of shoes, preferred currency. Traits are features of the subject that are inherent, such as eye color, nationality, place of birth. While attributes of a subject can change easily, traits change slowly, if at all. Digital identity also has entity relationships derived from the devices, environment and locations from which an individual transacts on the web.

Social Identity

Identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or expressions that make a person (self-identity as emphasized in psychology) or group (collective identity as pre-eminent in sociology). One can regard the awareness and the categorizing of identity as positive or as destructive.

A psychological identity relates to self-image (one's mental model of oneself), self-esteem, and individuality. Consequently, Peter Weinreich gives the definition:

A person's identity is defined as the totality of one's self-construal, in which how one construes oneself in the present expresses the continuity between how one construes oneself as one was in the past and how one construes oneself as one aspires to be in the future"; this allows for definitions of aspects of identity, such as: "One's ethnic identity is defined as that part of the totality of one's self-construal made up of those dimensions that express the continuity between one's construal of past ancestry and one's future aspirations in relation to ethnicity.

Online Identity

Internet identity (IID), also online identity or internet persona, is a social identity that an Internet user establishes in online communities and websites. It can also be considered as an actively constructed presentation of oneself. Although some people choose to use their real names online, some Internet users prefer to be anonymous, identifying themselves by means of pseudonyms, which reveal varying amounts of personally identifiable information. An online identity may even be determined by a user's relationship to a certain social group they are a part of online. Some can even be deceptive about their identity.

In some online contexts, including Internet forums, online chats, and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), users can represent themselves visually by choosing an avatar, an icon-sized graphic image. Avatars are one way users express their online identity. Through interaction with other users, an established online identity acquires a reputation, which enables other users to decide whether the identity is worthy of trust. Online identities are associated with users through authentication, which typically requires registration and logging in. Some websites also use the user's IP address or tracking cookies to identify users.

The concept of the self, and how this is influenced by emerging technologies, are a subject of research in fields such as education, psychology and sociology. The online disinhibition effect is a notable example, referring to a concept of unwise and uninhibited behavior on the Internet, arising as a result of anonymity and audience gratification.