OIX is not to be confused with OpenID, which is a standard that lets sites such as Google, Twitter or Facebook share the same login credentials. U.S. Government sites require a trust framework, a certification system that enables a party who accepts a digital identity credential to trust the identity, security and privacy policies of the party who issues the credential. OIX is the first Open Identity Trust Framework provider, enabling certified sites to share their login credentials with U.S. Government sites.
"OIX grew out of a public/private industry partnership initiated by the U.S. government at this conference last year. OpenID and Information Card technologies can solve the technical problem of using identity credentials across different websites, but can't solve the problem of how those credentials can be trusted at different levels of assurance. OIX is a solution to this problem not just for the U.S. government, but for many different governments, industry alliances, non-profit associations, telcos, academic networks, and others all over the world who need to establish trust across a wide online population," said Don Thibeau, OIDF Executive Director and OIX Board Chair.
Today, OIX has certified Google, PayPal and Equifax (with Verizon awaiting certification) to issue digital identity credentials that will be accepted for registration and login at U.S. government websites. Of course, this will be implemented gradually; the first site to accept OIX credentials for login is the National Institutes of Health (NIH).