Big Brother Is Watching ATMs

[Jonathan Wienke <JonWienk@ix.netcom.com>]

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I just heard that a bank card company has just released a program for using
photos of the iris in people's eyes as a biometric ID to replace people's
PIN codes for ATM / credit cards.  What I found really interesting is how
they plan to implement it.  As people use the ATM, they are photographed. 
(Every ATM has a security camera.)  Over time, as people use the ATM, the
security camera images are composited to produce a high-quality image of
their irises, which is coded and placed in their account information.  Once
this is accomplished, when a card is inserted into the ATM and the security
camera gets an iris image that matches the account sufficiently closely,
the user can conduct transactions without entering the PIN code.  People
affected by this will merely receive a letter that under certain
circumstances, entering the PIN is no longer necessary, but this is not a
security problem.

This scenario may not be a security problem, but it certainly poses a
privacy problem.  Given the frequency that the average Joe Sixpack uses the
ATM, it is only a matter of time before the government mandates a
nationwide eyeprint ID database to catch ATM and credit card theives, money
launderers, tax cheats, and other undesirables.  Perhaps the eyeprint could
even replace or supplement the SSN as the unique taxpayer ID key for tax
and other purposes.  Of course, given the fact that ATMs have had cameras
from the start, this theoretical eyeprint database could already be under
construction.  How's that for paranoia?  >:-(

Of course, there are a few ways to beat this, such as mirror sunglasses,
(which would only be useful while alternative credentials to eyeprint ID
are still available) and contact lenses, (which would have to be carefully
oriented so that the same side of the lens was always up, or the fact that
you are wearing contacts and are therefore a Suspicious Person� would
become obvious to the system) and of course intraocular implants of various
types.  Of course if the implant's power-on LED gives your eyes a constant
Satanic red glow, you may be flagged as a Suspicious Person� anyway.

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Jonathan Wienke

PGP Key Fingerprints:
7484 2FB7 7588 ACD1  3A8F 778A 7407 2928
3312 6597 8258 9A9E D9FA  4878 C245 D245 EAA7 0DCC

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude
greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace.
We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that
feeds you. May your chains set lightly upon you; and may posterity forget
that ye were our countrymen."
-- Samuel Adams

"Stupidity is the one arena of of human achievement where most people
fulfill their potential."
-- Jonathan Wienke

Never sign a contract that contains the phrase "first-born child."

RSA export-o-matic:
print pack"C*",split/\D+/,`echo "16iII*o\U@{$/=$z;[(pop,pop,unpack"H*",<>
)]}\EsMsKsN0[lN*1lK[d2%Sa2/d0<X+d*lMLa^*lN%0]dsXx++lMlN/dsM0<J]dsJxp"|dc`