Questions tagged [identity]

Identity is the property of an object which allows it to be uniquely specified.

Identity allows you to specify a specific object or individual out of a group of objects or individuals.

For example: If Ann asks Bob to move a rock, she may specify the specific rock from rocks in the general area by:

  • pointing her finger at the rock
  • describing the rock's size, shape and color
  • giving map coordinates of the intended rock.

For people an ambiguous specification is a person's name which may not be unique. There may be more than one Ann or even more than one Ann Baker. For computer systems individuals are usually give a unique username, so that the use of a username is unambiguous.

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Is there a reason why IMEI is stored in EEPROM?

I've heard that IMEI numbers are stored on an EEPROM, essentially letting them be erased and rewritten. Thieves misuse it to make stolen phones untraceable. Is there a reason why manufacturers don't use one-time programmable non-volatile memory for…
Pradyumna
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UPS my choice -- How can I access my public records?

I was signing up for UPS my choice and they asked me some security questions. It asked me questions that signified that it was able to figure out: Who my father is and when my father was born. My past addresses. What year I graduated high…
user606723
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What bad things could an "attacker" do with my stolen ID's?

So if someone steals my (ex.: I didn't teared up a piece of paper that had these and I throwed it away on the street) ID's like my: Full name Permanent address Birth date/place My mothers name Identification card number Telephone number What bad…
gasko peter
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Is there anything like a standard GUID to identify a PC?

I am asked about my opinion in a case as follows: Someone visited a (totally legal, in fact US government) website A and identified themselves. At a very different point in time they - allegedly - visited a (doubtlessly very) illegal website B. US…
Hagen von Eitzen
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How would a nation-state provide an API for its citizens to verify their legal identity online?

An official nation-state institution, like the Swedish Skatteverk, could easily let their citizens verify themselves online. O-auth tokens could be created by the nation-state institution, generated server-side, and these tokens could be used to…
b0ris
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Gave scammers my name, date of birth, ... What now?

I was contacted on a world wide exchange and chat site, on which the contactor (disguised as a normal, friendly person) wanted to be friends. They gave me their mail address. In their first e-mail they asked me about myself and I gave them my name,…
user155532
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What are the risk of providing identity in my application, rather than using a provider?

In our multi tenant SaaS software application we intended to use Microsoft Identity Platform (Azure AD) for user authentication and providing the claims for authorization within the application. We are facing a lot of difficulties managing and…
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How do I get unique users signed up? [Canada or US]

Clients can win prizes on service and our team has to check their identity before giving prizes to them. Is there any way to collect photo ID while people signing up? Is it legal? Or there is some other way to check that it is not the same person…
Nick
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Tips if someone else is using "my" username on another site

This question isn't about me, though it easily could be, since there are many Barry Carter's out there. Suppose I find out someone is using my FaceBook (or Twitter or StackExchange or whatever) screenname on another site. I don't want to stop that…
user1862
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How to verify the identity of a person with 100% certainty?

Nowadays there are lots of security things, eg: Digital signatures Certificates One Time Password devices like those used in home banking system But no one gives you the possibility to verify identity with 100% certainty. I know maybe this will…
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Person has no persona on the internet yet runs a business

Original Question: There is this older person (60+yrs) who is runs a business with internet presence yet when I do am internet search on him nothing pops up, not even photos!! How do I find out if he is a Government agent or somehow uses an…
Evelyn
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