Authentication and Its Privacy Effects

As communications and computer technologies ingrain themselves further into our lives, we're asked to authenticate ourselves in a variety of ways, using increasingly sophisticated authentication systems. Most of this authentication requires personal information, which raises many privacy concerns. The US National Academies' Committee on Authentication Technologies and Their Privacy Implications recently issued its second report, who goes there? Authentication through the lens of privacy, to address the set of issues that personal authentication elicits. We summarize some of the highlights and key insights from that report.