Essays
20 pieces, newest first.
The Death of Authenticity
Authenticity is being undermined, and not just by technology.
13 Dec 2024TechnologyShared Signals, and Thanks for All the Fish
Fifteen species of dolphin fish cooperatively with people. An argument for security systems that tell each other what they see.
03 Jun 2022TechnologyIt’s Not Fair! Detecting Algorithmic Bias with Open Source Tools
Algorithms now shape bail decisions and transplant lists. The open-source tools that make them explainable enough to argue with.
15 Apr 2022TechnologyCall Me Mark Jannell: The Future of Bring Your Own Identity
An assumed name that stuck for eighteen months, and what it cost when the truth came out. On bringing your own identity.
08 Apr 2021TechnologyNow With More Privacy! The Rise of Nutritional Labelling and Customer Choice
Apple put nutrition labels on apps. A bank printing its own would first have to know what data it holds, and who can reach it.
11 Nov 2020TechnologyThe Technical Debt of Facial Recognition
The ACM called for a moratorium and three vendors stepped back. Shipping before it works is a debt, and someone else settles it.
28 May 2020TechnologyThe Color of 2020
In the beginning, blue did not exist. In short order, it came to be associated with health, power, and affluence. Will the same soon be said of working from home?
20 May 2020TechnologyIn Favor of the Shift
The shift is good for both baseball and identity.
14 Feb 2020TechnologyDating Strategy or Malware Technique?
Can you tell the difference between a bad romance and an exploit by a nation state?
29 Jan 2020TechnologyWhen the Bill Comes Due: Securing Challenger Banks’ Growth
The ongoing surge in financial innovation can only be sustained by a continued demonstration that new technology is safe — and that it can be trusted with valuable assets.
22 Nov 2019TechnologyTrust in Numbers: An Ethical (and Practical) Standard for Identity-Driven Algorithms
The story of Tarra Simmons asks 'Does the past predict the future?' and prompts a proposal for an identity-centric approach to ethics.
02 Oct 2019TechnologyStrong Customer Authentication: The Potential and Peril of Biometric Authentication
A trip though customs prompts an exploration of strong authentication, its potential and its perils.
07 Aug 2019TechnologyPSD2 and Two-factor Authentication: A Double Security Challenge
Open banking provides an opportunity for innovation and a challenge for consumer privacy.
10 Jul 2019TechnologyThe Bernoulli Principle: Epidemiological Models for Identity
How the eradication of Smallpox shows a way forward for identity models.
08 May 2019TechnologyLiving Like the 3%: A Secure User Experience on Financial Applications
Only 3% of financial apps deliver a secure experience for their users. What's the real cost?
01 Apr 2019TechnologyA Cher-based Lament for Lost Data
Great suffering produces great art.
14 Feb 2019TechnologyLast Minute Romantic Ideas for the Security-Minded
A quick list of ideas for the romantically-minded procrastinator.
06 Nov 2018TechnologyI Am Spartacus: Privacy through Obfuscation and the Right to be Forgotten
The Third Servile War was over. The slave army had been defeated, and their Roman captors offered the survivors a pardon—on one condition: they must identify their leader, Spartacus.
06 Jun 2018TechnologyHouston, We Have a Problem
Space debris is a growing problem. So is personal data in the cloud.
09 Oct 2017TechnologyAdmiral Nelson, Identity, and the Internet of Things
On October 21, 1805, the world changed. At the Battle of Trafalgar, British Admiral Horatio Nelson introduced a new strategy for naval warfare, one which points the way to an identity strategy for the Identity of Things.