True Persona

Carl Jung said that, "The persona is that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is."

Persona, in everyday usage, is a social role, or a character played by an actor. The word derives from the Latin for "mask" or "character," derived from the Etruscan word "phersu," with the same meaning.

Persona is the mask one presents to the world. Our persona is the appearance we present to the world. It is the character we assume-through it, that we relate to others. The persona includes our social roles, the kind of clothes we choose to wear, and our individual styles of expressing ourselves. The persona is not a pose or some other intentional misrepresentation of the self to others. It is, the self as self-construed, and may change according to situation and context.

Whilst, interacting on the Internet, through e-mail, via chat rooms, forums, blogs and whilst carrying out electronic transactions we all adopt an electronic persona. This persona can take the form of an email address, a login name for access to electronic services, or our favourite pseudonym whilst using forums and chat rooms. These are effectively masks to our true identity.

How then do we display our true persona whilst interacting electronically ? In order to display our true persona we require some form of verifiable electronic identity. This can be achieved by using an ssl digital certificate.

An ssl digital certificate issued by a reputable digital certificate authority can be used as a digital signature to sign electonic documents. In another form it can be used to sign and encrypt emails enabling secure email. If the digital certificate is incorporated in a smart card, it can form the basis of an electonic identity card.

An ssl digital certificate issued in our name becomes an electronic mask and represents our true persona to the world.