TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Startup Claims Better Idea for Identity Management

Stan Gibson | Date: 10-23-09 | Comments

Atigeo builds intelligent inference engine that keeps user data private.

Imagine: An identity management system that you control; that tells interested parties only what you want them to know; that protects your identity and privacy, while learning about your preferences and streamlining your access to your favorite Websites.

Atigeo LLC, a Bellevue, Wash., startup, is promising just that through its Lifepass software. Lifepass works something like Amazon.com�s preference engine, but it works across multiple sites � as many as subscribe as partners to its tagging system. Lifepass is capable of taking into account context, location, role, intent, as well as interest and preferences, in order to build a profile that is continuously learning about the user, according to Atigeo chief scientist Olly Downs.

�We�re really about putting consumers in control of their identities. The partners only get to see the part of the profile that�s relevant to them,� said Downs.

Lifepass is built with an Atigeo technology called xPatterns, an intelligent layer of software based on a modularized SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture) platform. �The technology works behind the scenes. It understands what it means for you to say you like the Giants and you live in San Francisco. The technology can make indirect, but understanding-based associations,� Downs said.

Although Atigeo faces competitors in companies such as Choicestream and RichRelevance, Downs claims that Lifepass is unique in that it puts the user in control of his or her own profile.

�You can see and manage your profile. You have control over it. No one can see the profile attributes and it�s hard even for us to associate your attributes with your name. There is no Social Security number or credit card information,� said Downs.

To succeed, Lifepass must gain adoption by Website operators as well as end users. With a critical mass of partners on board, consumers will be able to move from site to site, in control of their identities and exposing as much � and no more � information as they desire to the partners.

�Consumers benefit because they don�t have to tell people who they are over and over again,� said Downs. Business will benefit by being able to attract and retain visitors to their Websites as well as to cater to their preferences more effectively.

Founded in 2005, Atigeo has received $27 million in venture capital funding and has 60 employees. Atigeo�s president is former Microsoft executive Michael Sandoval.