New University identity system being implemented for creation and maintenance of users' electronic identities and the resources they are permitted to access. It will provide greater flexibility for e-mail addresses, reduce the use of Social Security numbers, increase the availability of Single Sign-On, and increase the security of the RUconnection card.
An electronic identity is a set of data, some public and some private, used to allow an individual to gain access to services such as e-mail, calendaring, library sources, course content, or payroll information. At Rutgers, the center of an electronic identity is the NetID.
Each individual has one NetID, used to identify the person to the services he or she is trying to access. A password is attached to the NetID, ensuring it is only used by the appropriate individual. Privileges are attached as well, ensuring the individual can only access services for which he or she has authorization.
A NetID is not the same thing as an email address or an email account, although in many cases today a person's NetID is used to generate an email address and account. More information about NetIDs can be found here.
The centerpiece of our changes is the construction of a new "Person Registry", which will be responsible for managing a single electronic identity for each individual associated with the University. While most people will not deal with the Registry directly, it will enable numerous improvements related to the flow of identity data. The improvements we are making include
We are making these changes in order to
We are working to keep these changes behind the scenes as much as possible. For the typical person, very little will visibly change. Specifically,
For new members of the University community, or for those who help bring new members into the community, we will be introducing new procedures designed to streamline these processes.
We are looking to introduce changes incrementally beginning in 2010.