Unit Structures Fred Stutzman’s thoughts about information, social networks and technology.

ClaimID Leaves Private Beta

And just like that, we’ve left private beta. ClaimID is now open for anyone to register an account. Chris Messina covers the launch here.

It has been a short 3 1/2 months since we first opened the doors of our little website, and we’ve done a lot of work. We’ve built our system on top of OpenID, we’ve pioneered MicroID-based link verification, we’ve added support for a bunch of standards, and we’ve created a service that really helps you manage your online identity.

In the meantime, we’ve attended a bunch of identity conferences, seen how hard some of this stuff is, and decided to build a system that will give you the tools you need to manage your identity on the web. You’re going to need this stuff - our job is to make it extremely simple for you. If we can do that, we’re gonna be around for a long time.

And the fact we’re going to be around for a long time is key. You are going to have an online identity for the rest of your life. Right now, we’re just getting started trying to figure out the best ways to help you. Keep an eye on us - we’re going to be constantly making the service better, and more useful to you.

Oh, and if you want to join the thousands of people that have already started managing their online identity, cruise on over and sign up at http://claimid.com - no invite required.

So this is pretty exciting. Today marks a new chapter in the life of ClaimID.

Conratulations on the full launch!

I’m looking forward to seeing this become part of our normal behavior on the Internet, as ubiquitous as using a search engine perhaps.

Well thank you! That was very kind of you.