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I-brokersAn I-broker (or i-broker, in lower case) offers a new web service - identity hosting. I-brokers are the "bankers" of the Social Web. They host the accounts people and organizations use for sharing data the same way real-world banks host accounts for exchanging funds. And just as banks offer a wide range of financial services associated with your account, i-brokers will offer a wide range of data sharing applications. Will individuals use just one i-broker for all their data? Probably not. Just as people use different banking and brokerage accounts for different financial services, they are likely to use multiple i-brokers for sharing different sets of data (personal, financial, medical, vocational, etc.) However with XDI link contracts, an account holder can choose to link all of their i-broker accounts, or just selected accounts, or none at alljust the way a website author determines which pages on the site link to the home page. What types of service providers will become i-brokers for the Social Web? Clearly those in a natural first position are the social networking sites. They already offer accounts for sharing personal data and forming links with other members. The first Identity Broker is 2idi. As XDI software becomes widely available, many other types of service providers will be in a position offer i-brokering services, including ISPs (Internet Service Providers), ASPs (Application Service Providers), banks, insurance companies, wired and wireless phone companies, e-commerce sites, portals, etc. As with email and Web hosting, some i-brokers will specialize in services for personal account holders, some will concentrate on the business and government market, and some will be full-service brokers handling all types of accounts. In all cases, the sensitivity of the data involved will demand of i-brokers the same high standards of accountability and trust demanded today in the global banking system. The challenge is how to do this without resorting to the same type of governmental regulatory infrastructure that's taken hundreds of years to evolve.
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