Windows CardSpace 2.0 Privacy

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Applies To: Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0, Windows 7, Windows Vista

Windows CardSpace 2.0 helps you control when and with what websites you share your identity information. Your identity information is not stored on your computer. Instead, each issuer of Information Cards maintains the information that it knows about you and allows you to share that information online with the sites that you choose.

When you visit a website that accepts Information Cards, CardSpace 2.0 finds all the Information Cards that meet the requirements of the site and shows a list of those Information Cards to you. You can then select the Information Card that you want to use on that site.

Before you use your selected Information Card, you can review the personal information that your Information Card issuer might send to the site by clicking "Learn about information to be sent". The information that appears is provided by the Information Card issuer to CardSpace 2.0, and it might differ from the actual information that will be sent. To learn more about the information that will be sent, read the section Information Released by Your Card Provider or contact the issuer of your Information Card.

CardSpace 2.0 helps protect the data that is provided when you use your Information Cards by transmitting the data over an encrypted channel by means of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol. You can always decide not to use a particular Information Card or to choose another, more appropriate Information Card.

CardSpace 2.0 will store only the following data on your computer when you use an Information Card:

  • Information about the site on which you used the card

  • The time and date when you used the card

  • The type of data that was sent to the site, but not the data itself. “First name” can be stored, for example, but not the first name “John.”

  • In certain cases, your user name and password might be stored.

If you decide not to send an Information Card, no data is stored on your computer.

Note

Access to your Information Cards is restricted to your Windows user account. To help protect your cards from unauthorized use, use a password with your user account and lock your Windows desktop before you leave your computer.