New IBM tech lets apps authenticate you without personal data

Back in January -- on Data Privacy Day, no less -- IBM announced Identity Mixer, a new technology for protecting users' personal data during authentication. On Friday, it announced that the technology is now available to developers on its Bluemix cloud platform.

It's common for apps to require that users prove their identity and other credentials, but all too often that authentication process exposes a raft of unnecessary and potentially sensitive personal information along the way.

To access an online streaming-movie service's app, for example, users might have to prove that they have a paid subscription and are over 18 years old. Traditionally, that would mean revealing their full date of birth along with assorted other personal details that aren't necessary for the proof, such as first and last name, address, etc.

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