Over the weekend I’ve been coming up with ideas for interesting implementations of Facebook Connect. There are many ideas that I’ve come up but what is most interesting is the implications of an accurate verifiable identity. When users typically register for a site, they typically go through a cumbersome registration process during which all of their personal information is requested.

More recently, sites began using simplified registration processes to avoid the fall off in new user registration resulting from the request of personal data. Often times when you visit newly launched websites, you’ll notice that the registration process will only require your name an email address. That email address is essentially “verifying your identity.”

The problem with the old models of identity verification is that there was a lot of spam generated or false registrations as users provided their “spam email address” when registering for a site. This is an inherently flawed process. Facebook Connect provides an excellent solution for this though. Users can control their privacy settings for each website from a single control panel (that most users are probably unaware of) and the Facebook Connect identity verification process provides sites with a deeper knowledge of new users.

Want to develop a site where your friends will never know that you’ve visited it? Facebook Connect could be used to mange this. Want to easily share information about your activity on other websites? Facebook Connect provides a simple solution. Whether it was their goal or not, Facebook currently has one of the most accurate profiles of us on the web. The connections with our friends on the site also help contribute to a verified representation of our identity, each friend providing more verfication.

While Facebook may not have complete access to our online purchase history, they do know who a large number of our friends are and social relationships are one of the most significant components of our identity. While many focus on the negative aspect of a single company having access to our complete identity, there are some definite benefits. Primarily regarding the protection of our identities.

Additionally, some sites would like to enforce knowledge of our identity. For example, Wikipedia is authored by individuals around the world but how can you know if the person editing the site has a conflict of interest with their entry? There is currently a board which monitors activity on the online encyclopedia but there isn’t always a way to verify who was editing an entry.

Implementing Facebook Connect would make the site more efficient for identity purposes but given their open door policy I doubt this would be implemented. The point is clear though: using Facebook Connect for identity verification purposes can provide added value, not previously available through simple email registration systems.