An array of names in the technology community today announced the formation of a non-profit foundation, The Information Card Foundation, to advance an open digital identity on the Internet. Led by Equifax, Google, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and PayPal, plus nine other companies, the group established the Information Card Foundation (ICF) to promote the adoption of Internet-enabled digital identities using Information Cards.

Information Cards take a familiar off-line consumer behavior - using a card to prove identity and provide information - and bring it to the online world. Information Cards are a visual representation of a personal digital identity which can be shared with online entities. Consumers are able to manage the information in their cards, have multiple cards with different levels of detail, and easily select the card they want to use for any given interaction.

"Rather than logging into web sites with usernames and passwords, Information Cards let people 'click-in' using a secure digital identity that carries only the specific information needed to enable a transaction," said Charles Andres, executive director for the Information Card Foundation. "Additionally, businesses will enjoy lower fraud rates, higher affinity with customers, lower risk, and more timely information about their customers and business partners."

Equifax, Google, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and PayPal, are founding members of the Information Card Foundation Board of Directors.

The Information Card Foundation said that it would support and guide industry efforts to enable the development of an open and interoperable identity layer for the Internet that maximizes control over personal information by individuals. To do so, the Information Card infrastructure will use existing and emerging data exchange and security protocols, standards and software components.

The Information Card Foundation will also hold interoperability events to improve consistency on the web for people using and managing their Information Cards.