Trusted ID technology is important because it can help improve consumer confidence in the Internet, said Gary Locke, secretary of the Commerce Department, during a speech at Stanford University in California. "The reality is that the Internet still faces something of a trust issue," Locke said. "It will not reach its full potential until users and consumers feel more secure than they do today when they go online."

Locke and Howard Schmidt, cybersecurity coordinator at the White House, announced a national program office in the Commerce Department for the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC). The upcoming NSTIC, released in , will seek to create an "ecosystem" where Internet users can trust each others' identities, but the U.S. government will not have a monopoly on issuing online credentials, Locke said.

"Let's be clear: We're not talking about a national ID card," he said. "We're not talking about a government-controlled system."

The White House will need technology vendors to design, build and offer trusted ID technologies, Locke added.

A trusted ID system will give online users options, Schmidt added. There should be a range of trusted ID providers and a range of credentials available, he said. People should be able to use pseudonyms to make comments online, and trusted IDs should be optional, he added.