There’s a growing awareness of the importance of online identity as well as issues related to security and privacy. Internet users find themselves increasingly scrutinized, whether it’s to make a purchase on craigslist or to meet someone on MySpace. As we spend more of our lives online these issues become increasingly important. Today’s New York Times (subscription required) featured several articles on the problems of privacy and protection of minors on MySpace.

Technologists are teaming with policy experts and consumer advocates to sort through these thorny issues. One axis of conversation is happening this week at the Internet Identity Workshop in San Jose. I became aware of this conference and the work of the Identity Gang when I was introduced to Kaliya Hamlin earlier this year.

I wasn’t able to make the conference but my colleague Heather Schlegel is there and posting about it on her blog.