CHAUM CHIMES IN

[Sandy <72114.1712@CompuServe.COM>]

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  SANDY SANDFORT               Reply to:  ssandfort@attmail.com
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Punksters,

For those of you who live in darkness (i.e., don't read THE
ECONOMIST), here is a letter to the editor from David Chaum, in
the most recent issue:

    SIR--Your leader, "No hiding place", and article, "Big
    brother is clocking you" (August 7th), are to be
    commended for focusing attention on the exploding threat
    to privacy being created by piece-meal adoption of
    intrusive systems, such as automated road tolling.
    Proposing systems designed around pre-paid smart cards
    as the solution is, however, somewhat misleading.
         In French pay phones, Danish vending machines, and
    in fact all large-scale uses today, such cards must
    identify themselves during each transaction.  Even
    though your name is not on the card, it represents an
    erosion of privacy over the coins it replaces.  If you
    are once identified by even a single transaction, such
    as when you reload the card from your bank account, all
    your transaction details are linked to your identity.
         A rare few systems, however, truly do protect
    privacy.  They need not cost more, weaken security, or
    be harder to use.  The technology is described in my
    article in /Scientific American/, "Achieving Electronic
    Privacy" (August 1992).  A smart card version has
    already been demonstrated for road tolls by the Dutch
    government.  And CAFE, a project sponsored by the EC, is
    designing an electronic wallet that literally will, as
    you recommend, "leave as much control as possible in the
    hands of individuals."
    /Amsterdam/                                  DAVID CHAUM

Of course, the next letter to the editor calls for the adoption
of systems to track every vehicle at all times.  The genius who
wrote the letter, thinks it would be a good way to prevent
nuclear, biological or chemical terrorism.  Geeeeez.

 S a n d y

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