FAQ
- What is claimID?
ClaimID is a free and easy way to manage your online identity. With claimID, we provide you an OpenID
you can use to log into OpenID-enabled sites without having to create a new account name and password. At the same time, you can use claimID to verify, track, classify, annotate, prioritize and share the information that is about you online, giving people a better picture of your online identity. - What is OpenID?
OpenID
is a very interesting new open identity protocol. Developed in an open source format, OpenID is designed to make your life easier by reducing the number of accounts and passwords you have to remember. Instead of creating a new account each time you sign up to a new site, you can simply log in with your OpenID (which is your claimID URL). Sure, it sounds a little complicated, but it is really easy! And not having to create new accounts/remember new passwords = awesome. - Ok, so you say you verify - how do you verify pages?
ClaimID uses MicroID, an open protocol for claiming ownership of web resources. The process is simple: We provide you a little snippet of code that you place in your website, which is then verified by our robot. Once the page is verified, it shows up as a verified link in your claimID. This way you can easily show people a verified picture of your identity.
- And what about tracking pages?
Have you ever had a web page about you suddenly disappear? And you don't find it until months later until you Google yourself? ClaimID uses another little robot to go out and make sure the links you've added to your claimID don't go offline. And if they do go offline, we send you an email so you always know the state of your online identity.
- Sounds cool! What other features does claimID have?
Besides OpenID, MicroID and our handy page-tracker, claimID will keep a personal cache of your links. This comes in really handy for holding onto things that disappear (like online newspaper articles) or having a reference copy if the stuff about you changes down the road. ClaimID also enables you with identity microformats, blog widgets, and it has an expanding API and easily integrates with your blog or homepage.
- Why should people trust claimID?
You've got a blog or website, and from your blog or website you link to your photo galleries or bookmarks. People "trust" that these are yours because you've given authority to them by linking to them. We see claimID working the same way -- you'll link to claimID, and your authority is transferred. You don't need to think of claimID as replacing your homepage -- we're simply another incredibly important service that supplements your digital life.
- I've got a well-established online identity, can claimID help me?
Yes. We must note, however, that we designed claimID with an explicit goal to help the average person who has a few things (listserv or blog post, a newspaper article) about them online. With claimID, that person can easily say "Hey, these things are about me!" and they'll never have to think about it again. Lets face it, there are lots of people out there with stuff about them online, and we want to help those people manage their identities. In designing claimID, we opted for simplicity and standards, so that everyone, especially those who have just a few things about them online, can easily claim their identity.
- Can claimID make links that I don't like go away?
No. But we can allow you to talk about them. If there's something online about you that you don't like, you can contextualize it with claimID. ClaimID allows people an easy way to explain the links about them, but it can't work miracles. We readily concede you could design a webpage for yourself to accomplish the same goals, but we've designed claimID to help the rest of us, who want to claim their identity without knowing how to build a website.
- Does claimID own your data?
No! It's your data. That's why claimID has placed Creative Commons licenses on all the data feeds. We support an open and standards-based approach to identity, simple as that.
- What does claimID cost?
ClaimID is free! In the future we may charge for cool services we develop, but the membership and features you receive today will always be free.
- Why not just include ads?
The research clearly shows that most people have a hard time differentiating between an ad and a standard link. As hard as we tried, we couldn't reconcile creating a service that allows people to claim their identity, only to have their identity diluted by ads.
- How did claimID get started?
ClaimID was started by two Ph.D. students from UNC Chapel Hill's School of Information and Library Science. Our goal is to enable people with the best identity solutions, with the best user experience. In doing so, we hope to increase OpenID adoption. Put pretty simply, we want to make identity simple - for all of us. Thank you very much for considering claimID.
