Some say all you have is your reputation.

But what about online? Identities are somewhat disposable, similar to free e-mail accounts or a pair of socks. If you don’t like it, it’s not hard to change. Proving you are who you really are is kindof an issue at the moment, well, online at least.

So, if you’re looking for a way to manage who you are in a cloudy renegade internet, ensure that you have an OpenID. Sure, it’s not perfect- yet- but it looks promising.

OpenID is a completely open, decentralized way to manage a digital identity- basically it eliminates the need for multiple logins/passwords across websites. Woo! Fewer usernames and passwords to remember!!

An OpenID is in the form of a URL. This URL can be the domain name of your own website, or the URL of an OpenID Identity Provider. When you log in with an OpenID, you have to log in to the Identity Provider for validation.

For example, you can register with ClaimID. All you have to do is provide a username and there you go-instant identity, all yours. Then you are given a URL and can create a page that links to what is “yours” – blogs, articles you have written, projects, research, publications, anything you want. Here’s an example.

So, when someone searches your name- let them find your ClaimID page first- that way all the sites and online content is right there- no searching through pages upon pages of Google Results.

The site also provides tips on how to manage your digital identity– some good stuff on how to find information published on the ‘net about yourself.

What I really love about ClaimID is not just that it was started by two Ph.D students in my field of study at UNC-Chapel Hill, but that it’s smart and simple. Oh, and free with a good cause.

You know a technology concept is promising when it’s foundation has corporate members from IBM, Google, Microsoft, VeriSign & Yahoo!