[17441] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
"Retailers Experiment With Biometric Payment" article
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Heyman, Michael)
Thu Jun 9 11:54:29 2005
X-Original-To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
X-Original-To: cryptography@metzdowd.com
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 11:17:59 -0400
From: "Heyman, Michael" <Michael.Heyman@sparta.com>
To: <cryptography@metzdowd.com>
From
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/08/AR20050
60802335_pf.html>:
"You can always get a new Social Security number, but=20
you certainly can't get a new thumbprint...," Lee [of=20
EFF] said...Robinson, of BioPay, argues that a personal=20
check written at a grocery store passes through eight=20
people before it is cashed, a process he considers much=20
less secure than a biometric payment, in which the=20
fingerprint image is connected immediately to the=20
user's bank account. "What can I do to hurt you if I=20
have a picture of the tip of your finger? Not much,"=20
Robinson said, contending that associating fingerprints=20
with legal troubles is unwarranted. BioPay does not=20
share its biometric data with government agencies, and=20
in fact, the full fingerprints are not stored in the=20
system. Instead, a complex mathematical algorithm is=20
created to represent identifying characteristics of=20
the fingerprint, which are matched to the real thing=20
when a user shows up at a checkout counter.
No discussion on the threat of finger removal...
-Michael
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