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Decode Your Barcode, Get Your Personal Info
Chris writes "The Swipe Toolkit is a collection of web-based tools that sheds light on personal data collection and usage practices in the United States. The tools demonstrate the value of personal information on the open market and enable people to access information encoded on a driver's license or stored in some of the many commercial data warehouses. Check out the Data Calculator, which shows how much your personal info is worth, and how the data brokers get it. It's all part of the Swipe Project, which will be on exhibition at UC-Irvine in March."
I saw this story as a subscriber before most everyone else did, so I go to the site and download all the software before the site ends up getting slashdotted.
I then download java, run the jar, scan my driver's license... doesn't work.
Then I rotate the image 180 and find out it doesn't work.
Then I go online and notice that California doesn't have a 2d barcode on the back of their licenses.
Which comes to the rule of the day, which is apparently applicable to myself:
You can be enough of a nerd to care about what's on your barcode, and still be a complete fucking moron
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Good thing I didn't throw it away.
Well, it would be, if I didn't live in my parent's attic and if I did actually have a driver's license.
Mod "Overrated" instead of replying "I disagree with you," you coward.
How did you get the stand-alone to work? I tried, java.exe and javaw.exe. It says "No Main Class".
I bet you get great radio reception and have a nice view. Lucky, I'm stuck down here in the basement.
so, where can I copyright my own personal info and sue the pants off of all these freakers passing around unauthorized copies?
"Operating systems suck: you're better off using only the BIOS" --trainsaw.com
that's "Point of Sale"
When I worked at Peter Piper Pizza it was quickly learned you could exit the program handling orders to get to a prompt. You could then swipe any magnetic card through the CC reader in the keyboard to see what was on it. You just had to swipe it at the right speed to get everything.
Ben
Work Safe Porn
i already have my personal data, thanks.
So when will the first knock off site appear asking you for simialr information but actually keep an image of it on their server?
I make my face look like this and concerned words come out.
Once people know that essentially no one's a saint, we'll all be a lot better off without the sanctimonious holier-than-thou crap we get so much of today.
I am honest in all my dealings except the occasional shoplift from Barnes & Noble. I'd be fine with a lack of privacy, because everyone would be under equal scrutiny. The thing that bothers me is unequal privacy - which we're at right now.
Once everyone's life is part of a public record, we're all equally screwed and we can build our society around a new, more honest paradigm.
You can easily see that with a service such as MSN Hotmail, who already sells your personal info, your standard "I had best enter the correct info, or else bad things could happen" person can easily give them (as this project puts it) about $10 worth of personal info right in the sign-up boxes. MSN could then do a search through some of these free services and get even more money, as the information gains value if it is all stored in one location. We can then see how offering free email to the unwashed masses can be very profitable.
Wow. I already can't view the site. Slashdot effect anyone?
I have always wondered what was encoded on those things. Mine doesn't have one on it, unfortunately (or maybe it isn't). Does anybody know what states licenses contain these barcodes and who is planning on implementing them?
what?
Accessing critical information is as easy as point-and-click. Using ChoicePoint Online's powerful search capabilities, you can easily search more than 14 billion records on individuals and businesses. Whoopdeedoo. Choicepoint and companies like them probably have more than you can spend your life trying to hide. Personally I blame it on utter laziness. Here's a day in the life of Avgjoe...
Avgjoe wakes up everyone morning and turns on the radio to hear the news while he gets ready for work. He uses XM satellite for news... (subscriber info sent)
As he gets into his car after getting ready he joyously turns on his car. "Welcome to OnStar" (userinfo sent). Driving over the Triboro bridge, Avjoe happily avoids crowds and goes through the EZPass lane. (info sent). Upon entering Manhattan he decides to fill up the tank at Mobil with his credit card. (info sent)
Driving down 1st avenue he eats a yellow light (snap snap go the cameras). Avgjoe is sent a ticket. "Hey I can fight this..."
Do the math if Avgjoe committed a serious crime he could be tracked to the minute if needed. If Avgjoe was Avgjoe do gooder who happened to be a politician who pissed off other politician, do gooder Avgjoe's information could also be abused.
You want what privacy or ease of use? Privacy? Dump your credit cards, and all other forms of digital clutter so you can complain less, unless you're just a whiner complaining while typing this with a what? UID... Ah yea a UID.
MoFscker
Some states encrypt the data before they put it in the barcode on the back of your license. It helps to prevent fake IDs. At least in Indiana, some of the liquor stores have scanners in them, through a deal with the state to read the back of the ID which has a PDF 417 2D barcode. That way when some 5'5", black hair, brown eyed underage person presnts the ID and the data on the back shows 6'1", blonde hair, blue eyes, they know it's a fake.
....somebody "swiped" their bandwidth.
less than 100 halfweeks, I mean the election is what, 10 months away?
gwb wins, and it's game over baby,,
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
He uses XM satellite for news... (subscriber info sent)
I can see where XM might be passing out mere subscriber info left and right (XM is partly owned by the Borg, Clear Channel)
Technologically I'm not sure how they know WHEN you tune in or what you listen to since it's a passive reception system.
...how do we slashdot the sites?
I am a leaf on the wind
... then why is Google giving it away for free?
"he drew his sword Ringil that glittered like ice... and he wounded Morgoth with seven wounds..."
Alright, who downloaded the stand alone 2d barcode reader? I am itching to read my license data now. Someone please mirror it. For those of you who couldn't get to the instruction you should use a large GIF scan (~1meg) for best results. A digital camera works but not as well.
From the data calculator:
Carry a concealed weapon: $0.25
Sex offender: $13
So this means Michael's "info" is worth more than Janet's?
I don't get it!
That calc needs to have an add'l button:
Slashdotter (Pressing it causes OVERFLOW)
G-Force music visualization
There are attempts underway now to allow compilation of facts to be copyrighted. A compilation of facts about you could then, possibly, be your property.
Here in Ohio I've actually got a few legislators entertaining the idea of introducing (or at the very least co-sponsoring) legislation to prohibit machine readibility on driver's licenses.
I've done it by convincing them that machine readability will cause more fraud. How?
The experience is that when a human has a machine that does scanning, the human will take a quick glance at the photo (or no glance at all) and then swipe/scan the card...and the card will say X and the human will believe it. Based just on that, remagnetizing the card or even an overlay sticker over the barcode can be very successful.
Indeed, the only thing separating the cheap plastic card from being an other cheap plastic card is the hologram and other visual/tactile elements that humans detect, but machines don't. If humans have to examine the card in depth before scanning it, then there is little reason to actually have the scanning machinery.
Which is cool...because the Ohio BMV does pay a touch extra for the plastic card blanks with magnetic stripes, so getting rid of the stripes saves a touch of money...at least enough to keep the conservatives listening.
And then I hit the privacy arguments...which I save for last.
These things take time incidentally...especially here in Ohio where legislators are deathly afraid of making a mistake, and the full year calendar means that they can take their damn time doing things.
But I was quite honored the other day...as I walked by one of the senior administrators of the BMV she stopped talking...she didn't want me to hear anything she was saying. Quite the compliment.
Machine readability is also discused on my New Jersey driver license privacy site, listed below.
Mine does too. So the first thing I did with it after I got it was to lay it on a steel table at work and take a whacking big speaker magnet and just go to town on that thing. I've had law enforcement question me about the lack of data on that stripe, but so far a doofus look and a shrug of the shoulders has seen me on my way. Your mileage will vary.
Is it fascism yet?
"In my opinion, we're less than 100 years away from basically a total lack of "privacy.""
I'll be dead by then. Have fun.
I work with Point-of-sale systems, so I know what is on a credit card. There are two tracks of data. The first contains the credit card number, name, expiration date and some checksum info. The second contains number and expiration date again, with more checksum. That is all. Also, the first digit of the account number indicates what kind of card it is:
3 - Amex
4 - Visa
5 - MasterCard
6 - Discover
Unknown host pong.
I think it's more like 10 yrs, but this is a very good point which I believe is overlooked by the pols. A truly independent data mining approach like the Total Information Awareness debacle of the less-noticed state-based "Matrix" program would catch all the associations between politicians and graft. Tthe GAO sued to get Dick Cheney to identify the parties in his energy task force, unsuccessfully. If that were public knowledge... in real time... hmmm. Maybe time to buy stock in the human courier business.
The revolution will NOT be televised.
I bet it's all the anonymous cowards.
Here are the instructions: This SWIPE tool allows you to crack a 2D barcode. Ever noticed the barcode on the backside of your license? Ever wondered what information it stores or why it is even there? Use our online application or the stand-alone program and put an end to the mystery! It is your data, so shouldn't you have a look? Learn more about the 2D barcode and your driver's license.
WHAT YOU NEED TO BEGIN
1. Check to see if your driver's license has a 2D barcode. Currently 39 states use the 2D barcode to encode personal information on the backside of drivers' licenses. Look for a band of black and white squares in a random pattern.
This thing here is a 2D barcode.
2. Make a digital image of your driver's license barcode. You can either use a scanner or a digital camera to create this image. The image you create must be a color GIF file or a very high quality JPEG without compression artifacts. The image file size should be roughly 500k to 1.5MB and can not be larger than 2MB. The license image should be 1000-1500 pixels wide and make sure it is rightside up. For good results, this image must be in sharp focus with high contrast.
Based on recent use, our Toolkit participants are getting better results with scanned images than images taken with a digital camera. If you use a digital camera, be sure to point the camera directly at the barcode and the license is level in respect to the lens.
3. Decide if you want to use the online application or stand-alone program to decode your barcode. We have made two versions of our barcode decoder: an online version and a stand-alone program. They both will return the same results; the only difference is the stand-alone program allows you to decode locally on your hard drive. The online version is a little bit easier to use, but you will have to upload your barcode image to our server.
Note: We are not archiving any image files for future use. We will, however, keep track of the different kinds of information each state encodes on its drivers' licenses. This research will be made available to our SWIPE Toolkit visitors. No specific data or identifying information will ever be stored on our server.
Now it is time to decode! Please contact us if you have any problems or questions.
Always register for customer loyalty cards under phony names: Ted Nugent, Harry Truman, and John Cocktosen are favorites.
Need a fake SSN for your long distance service? (Really they don't need this) use 078-05-1120. It's an Eisenhower era specimen number that works 99% of the time.
Wired has a great story that these are pulled from. See it here
I think the threat of a slashdot is enough to have most servers grind to a halt in respect. You don't get here just looking pretty, kid.
I'd be willing to bet the majority (if not the vast majority) of Slashdot readers simply RTFA, maybe follow the links, and then move along. They have neither the time nor the inclination to read, much less post on, these forums.
Fun with Anagarams! LADS HOST, SHALT DOS. HAS DOLTS. AD SLOTHS, HATS SOLD. ASS HO, LTD.
The SWIPE Toolkit is a collection of web-based tools that sheds light on personal data collection and usage practices in the United States. The tools demonstrate the value of personal information on the open market and enable people to access information encoded on a driver's license or stored in some of the many commercial data warehouses.
Decode Your Barcode
This application unveils the mystery of the 2D barcode. Currently 39 states use 2D barcodes to digitally store personal information on the backside of drivers' licenses. What information is encoded on your license that machines can read and you cannot?
Request Your Data
Send away for your information that commercial data warehouses collect about you and sell to third party clients. What does this information look like, how accurate is it, and who is buying it? Take a look at your data files and find out for yourself. Currently we can help you send away for information from ChoicePoint, Acxiom, LocatePlus and Experian. Report back here when you receive your data and help us keep track of the companies' response times and accuracy.
Data Calculator
How much is your personal information worth? Why are you just giving it away whenever it is requested? Use this handy calculator to determine the fair market value of your data bits so you can demand proper monetary compensation. Now when you release information that will later be sold for a profit, at least you'll be getting a cut. Use this calculator here online or download it to your PDA and make calculations "on the go."
The SWIPE Toolkit is part of a larger project titled SWIPE that includes a performance, installation, and workshop. For more information about SWIPE, visit www.we-swipe.us or contact info@we-swipe.us. SWIPE is produced by Beatriz da Costa, Jamie Schulte, and Brooke Singer.
The SWIPE Toolkit is a 2003 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible with funding from the Jerome Foundation. And special thanks to Chris Hoofnagle for his advice and support.
Privacy Notice: We collect information only to provide the online barcode decoder service, and do not maintain the information afterwards. You will be prompted to delete your image from our server immediately after a successful decode or we do so automatically within ten minutes of service. In addition we provide a downloadable version so that you can use the "Decode Your Barcode" tool on your personal computer without any transfer of personal information at all.
link to the 38 states supported here
If you cannot stand Christians, then so be it. But giving up your privacy for that, or even imposing it on others - that's stupid.
because good is Dumb ;)
gzipped jar here
I've always wanted to see if my school's MS only infrastructure could stand up to a good pounding...
-theGreater Slacker.
PS: They say to scan your license in so that it's between 1500 and 2500 pixels long, or between 1 and 2 MB in size. I don't have a scanner, though. Or a job.
I remember when it first started being used, and we happened to be working on a PDF417 decoding program.
We ran the license's barcode through our decoder, and found that the only "encryption" used in the barcode was to store the data in binary mode, instead of the text (alphanumeric) mode.
NYS also puts PDF417s on the car registration stickers.
I wonder what use are these, without a PGP (or similar) signature?
My barcode decodes to "THX-1138"...
You're obviously quite new here (and it didn't take me looking at your number to figure that out). Taco's been bitching about that for 3 or four years now. People just read links on the home page and that's it. The subscription thing stemed out of that.
I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
It's also interesting to note that "sex offender" is only worth $13. Personally.....I think someone might value it a little more highly than that......
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
I was working on an application where the client wanted to be able to swipe a drivers license and get all the user data - name, address, height, weight, etc for quick data entry. We investigated and found that each state has different formats, and not all states put all that info on their cards in mag or bar code formats. We hoped to get all of this info quickly when people test drive a car.
:)
We would have had to develop a different format for each state and in some cases resorted to scanning and OCR. In they end they decided they can type it in themselves rather then pay for development.
I did learn that serveral states were considering a standard format. Believe me that marketing companies are DROOLING over the day when every person has their Multi-Pass type card.
Very interesting to see the dollar amounts though. There should be a column for that on the 1040's.
BTW, to the person who mentioned a use for cue-cat - I have about 50 of them and they don't work that great. They are about 5 bucks on ebay, or free if you take the left overs from your local radio shacks.
Mine decodes to "Buy more Ovaltine"
Etiquette is etiquette. He kills his mother but he can't wear grey trousers.
- Bankruptcy: $26.50
Court records bring in some big dough:- Felonies: $16.00
But the biggest payoff comes for Military Records: $35.00.When I got out of the military in the early 90s we were strongly encouraged to take our DD-214 (summary of military records) and submit them to the county clerk when we got back home so they'd become public record, that way if we ever lost it we could go look it up. I'm REAL GLAD(tm) I worked with Privacy Act information for my whole career and developed a healthy reluctance to hand out the juicy tidbits contained on my DD-214, e.g., SS#, DOB, education, and of course your whole military career.
At some point, some time ago, there was a report about the bars in Boston scanning in the 2D codes on the back of licenses and then using it to send junk mail. The bars in New York City do the same thing. They won't let you in without "scanning" your license to be sure it isn't fake. They place it under a blacklight in a reader and it gets scanned. The club then has a record of every person, their address, description, birth date and drivers license that entered the club. On commercial licenses in some states, your Social Security Number is also encoded, so they'd have that, too.
Remember that, and think twice if the place you're about to enter really needs a complete copy of all the information on your driver's license. I've refused to provide it and taped over the back so noone can scan it quickly before I realize they're trying to. I haven't been refused access to anywhere yet.
Portable versions of Firefox, GIMP, LibreOffice, etc
I don't breathe, you insensitive clod!
Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
For those who can't get to the page, here's how it works...
1. Create java app to upload data from scanned images.
2. Submit Slashdot story relevant to information privacy.
3. ???
4. Profit!
-Barkeep, a draft of your most hazardous brew, for the world is slowly stepping into focus, and I don't like what I see.
I took my DL and dropped it on the concrete, stood on it and twisted it on the concrete to render the bar code un-readable.
Then I took a LARGE degausser and nuked the mag-stripe into absolute oblivion.
And everytime I present my DL to any institution at their request/demand, I degauss it all over again, just to be sure in case they reprogrammed the mag-stripe.
When I go to the bank they have to use the phone and verify my license by reading the numbers over the phone since it is no longer machine readable.
Same thing when Mr. Busy Body policeman pulls me over to see if I have illegal farts in my pants or something. They tell me my license is "not working right" and that I need to have it replaced. I just tell them yeah, I dropped it and it got ran over in the driveway and that I am going to take care of it right away.. Yeah right.
Soo sorry, I don't play their game, I play the game my own way..
I will tell you why hamsters are so cute.
Hamster eyes are rainbow crystals that serve as a gateway between this reality and another hidden reality that you can access only through hamsters.
Hamsters are at least as feathery as penguins. HamLix
So does that mean I won't be able to patent my /. UID after all?
Dude, I'm like SO here already. Society finds you, don't you worry about that.
"all this and dialup, too. Woo hoo!"
Need Mercedes parts ?
Also, if I were stopped by the police on the way home this data could declare me guilty of DUI before proven innocent. Pretty bad since my girlfriend coaxed the beer away for herself before I could drink it.
I'd like to know if I could sell this information personally? I could use the extra money, and I'm the most reliable source of information about... er... myself.
Thirty Five bucks for my military records? No problem. "\0" is a valid value to code with, so I can use it for this, right?
I like the old school MacOS calculator, nice touch.
Learn something new.
I got a barcode of my DOB and SSN tatooed on my leg, I needed a 'cover up" tat for scar and (Yes I did the unimaginable and had my Ex's name tatooed on me :) Anyhow about 8 years ago I wanted to get the mess on my leg covered up, I thought about all kinds of stuff but needed something fairly solid, Soooo, barcode it was , (my cuecat will even read it :)
All your info are belong to us.
Hmmm... isn't shoplifting a misdemeanor not a felony?
hey, you troll bastard ! I can't stop , well, um, BREATHING because of you! It's worse than the Small World ride song! ACK!
The Swipe Project should sign up for Accurint, so that when you put in your card, you get your whole dossier. That would show people how much is known about them.
"Sigh... it almost makes me want to join ESR and the rest of the Free Staters."
Me too. Only I mean it in the same cynical way that Rush Limbaugh might like to see Howard Dean win the democratic nomination.
Laissez-faire capitalism has never worked, and can never work because it utterly fails to deal with externalities. I think it would be instructive for the Ayn Rand-quoting pseudo libertarians to see just what happens to the unlucky state (particularly real estate values) when all government "interference" is removed from the capitalist system.
more info on that legislation:
The House Judiciary Committee approved controversial legislation Wednesday that extends protection for facts within databases which are not currently eligible for copyright protection.
Opponents to the bill claim it is special interest legislation that will ultimately make it more difficult and costly to access public information.
The Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act (H.R. 3261) allows database owners to sue in civil court for damages arising from the theft of the information in the database
So you and aralin would dispute The Declaration of Independence in stating that it is a self-evident truth that all men are created equal? That in fact you believe that the very cornerstone of the US's entire existence as a nation is actually wrong? How weirdly unamerican. I would encourage you to follow through on moving in with the Free Staters, except they don't really want to actually leave the comfort of the US, just move to New Hampshire, where they can whine about taxes and operate their vehicles without helmets or seatbelts. Very radical and principled. Not.
If you go to the supermarket they pull the old "give us your personal information or we will rip you off" routine.
You just can't win.
War is necrophilia.
Alright, I didn't see any posts on this and I know I was wondering:
... a monthly gig? Could I supplement my income at the expense of marketing scum?
I know it'd be damn near impossible to find someone who'd qualify for all of these, but nevertheless the total I came up with was $277.60 for the various types of info. And I'd imagine most of us could get at least $100 (SSN, Cell #, DOB, etc. all add up).
Now, I didn't see this on any of the sites but is this a one-time lifetime-rights-sold deal or maybe
Join the revolution
why? forty-two.
I'm surprised these 2D barcodes don't have digital signatures encoded in them to verify the authenticity of the data. I think it'd cut down on the number of fake IDs used.
d 000630.pdf (2000 edition) or http://www.aamva.org/Documents/stdAAMVADLIDCardSpe cs_092003.pdf (2003 edition). Among other things, it also spells out recommended security measures.
Many places are now using the 2D barcode to verify your age, but in many jurisdictions (such as Oregon), when you change your address, they issue you a plain STICKER with your new PDF417 barcode printed on it. Anyone with knowledge of the AAMVA standard could create their own barcode sticker, making them any age they want. This is precisely why digital signatures are needed.
When someone asks for your ID, they'd scan it into a device, which would use the issuing jurisdiction's public signature to verify the digital signature on the barcode. Assuming the data is authentic, it'd then display the encoded data on a display. The person checking your ID would compare the data on the display to that printed on the front of your ID. If both match, you can be fairly certain the ID is legit.
Of course, there'd probably have to be a law prohibiting places from storing your personal data without your explicit consent.
If you're curious about the exact data format of the barcodes and magstripes, check out the AAMVA DL/ID standard at http://www.aamva.org/Documents/stdAAMVADLIDStandr
Well, my California drivers license expired over a month ago! I guess I got you both beat....
I live in South Africa - one of many countries that use the GSM mobile standard. Here I have a pay-as-you-go SIM card, meaning that I am almost anonymous.
Going on a month business trip to Australia - I plan on doing the same thing - get a pay-as-you-go card, so I take my GSM phone over.
Go to the corner store - "Starter pack please".
"Sorry Sir, we need you to fill out all this information - Gov regulations, sorry."
Name, passport number, other phone numbers, drivers licence, DOB, blah blah.
I fill it all out.
"After they verify the information, your SIM card will be turned on"
Every single piece of info was wrong, yet my phone came on the next day.
Cheers, Andy!
Andy Rabagliati
Great idea, wacky delivery.
.tar.gz ./configure; make; make install, for Windows boxes that means an .exe and for Macs... I don't know what that means for Macs, but I'll bet it ain't a .jar file.
1. The web site is screwy; opening secondary windows with no navigation or status lines so you can see what is going on is annoying and serves no good purpose. Because I could not see the link for the actual download when I hovered the mouse over it, I was caught off guard when my browser then tried to make an outbound connection on port 7777 to some unknown IP address, and I initially blocked the connection until I figured out what was up.
2. If you want people to download and run your software, give them something they can download and run that's comparable to 99% of all the other software that they use on their respective platforms. For Linux boxes, that means
Have a great day!
Uh the very idea of using debit card should scare you more.
You're going around to various different entities of differing trustworthiness and paying them using your debit card - i.e. using YOUR MONEY. Anything goes wrong (double charges etc), it's YOUR MONEY that's involved and you're the one running around trying to fix things.
With a credit card you're paying those different entities the Card Issuer's money, NOT yours. When you look at your card statement, if anything is wrong (item didn't arrive, faulty, incorrect charges etc), you complain to the Card Issuer and refuse to pay the problem amount. You just sit easy whilst the Card Issuer settles it with the rest of the parties involved (Merchants, Banks, Cops etc). In many card cloning cases the Card Issuer contacts you before you notice the problems, and issues you a new card.
I really don't understand why so many people prefer using debit cards to credit cards. What are the advantages over credit cards? There are minimal if any privacy advantages. Worse security for the card holders.
The only advantage could be you can't get into debt as easily. But doh, only the stupid or unfortunate get into serious card debt.
See what a good scan looks like.
And this is what a good decoding looks like:
NCZJGWECBSCYGFFKCXCFEV DVRHU:KFEHBTBXD%%/:40CBDLCA QWTDJBTDHPEEWALEUAITHMXKQEKDANADBJ'NP AHAWWADCZDZE N"KPZRQFSAUVYWUZLY OA
And you'll get it. After a while some of the cops are going to know you by name AND face - "Yah that one with the broken card again". Plus the cops always have to pull your records from the online database for checks - so you might show up in a DB statistic/log somewhere. They can't just go - "Cards ok, looks like just another Joe, move along now".
If you want some semblance of anonymity, you hide in the herd. Or you go move somewhere else totally.
You don't hang around the herd looking and behaving different from everyone else, unless you want to be singled out on a regular basis. If the herd is chewing cud, you don't go around stomping unless you want to attract attention.
The NSA etc don't give a damn about the 80-90%. It's the unusual ones they watch.
The marketeers are interested in the 80%, but if you behave just like everyone else and hide the bits where you are different, you vanish into one of the Common categories.
It's nothing innovative, but..
Ever went through a metal detector at the entrance to a store and it beeped because of these magnetic stripes?
I wonder if one can WAR-WALK in a busy street, or "fix" one of these metal detectors to not only detect but copy the information on the magnetic stripes.
Dangerous stuff.
Donald Duck is going to have a SCREAMING ORGASM when someone decodes HIS bar code!
I'm not comfortable with the idea that if you are not doing anything wrong then you have no need to worry. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong when I use the bathroom or go to bed at night but I don't want cameras in there.
That's very perceptive of you Mr Stapleton and rather unexpected in a G Major
It is not just EZPass you have to worry about. You have to avoid the toll roads altogether. I was watching one of those crime shows on TLC/Discovery and they were able to prove the suspect had used a toll road because they had the snapshots of his car/license plate from the toll booth. The catcher is, he used the manual lanes and paid the toll in cash. Those cameras don't just catch toll cheats, they "catch" everyone. I don't recall the state, but if one is doing it, then you have to assume they all are (if you're paranoid like me).
WWJD?
JWRTFM!
That is why Europeans have a toothless data privacy act, bar the fact that the airlines are profiting from illegal data interchange, and sending eurodata to American (private) concerns.
If someone can prove a European connexion (say having you D/L scanned, and data stolen, say by a Hotel chain, AND you were not informed said information would be retained, maybe they can run a large class action. Clubs sending junkmail after a 'door check' is an outrage.
Close on the heels, are abortion clinics, with unsecured wireless links, and grabbing mobile polling data of the clients who wander in, bingo, match cell# with person, ring up and inform parents, because she had her D/L 'scanned' for something unrelated.
Hmmm, a D/L should be used as a licence, not a defacto ID card - a simple concept.
But we're not discussing whether everyone has equal intelligence, parental fortune, whatever. We're discussing whether everyone has equal rights; in this case, equal rights to privacy. It really isn't clear from your post - are you saying everyone has (or should have) equal rights (eg to privacy) or not?
...or is he/she just a deluded Michael Jackson fan? Flamebait? Come on it's a damn joke, grab a sense of humour.
Seriously though, I think the information is "valued" based upon accessibility. It is very easy to get names, addresses and listed phone numbers, and not much more work to get government registry information (such as what kind of car you drive, hunting and fishing permits and as you state gun possession permits). That stuff's by and large a matter of public record.
Sex offender history is tougher to get. Good ol' Texas might post a list of offenders on the internet, but in other jusristictions it can take a bit of time and money to get such information. And even in Texas, records may be sealed to protect the innocent. There is also more of a demand for that information than for info on who owns a gun. It's not that people want to market that info--it's required for background checks should someone apply to be a daycare worker, schoolteacher and so on.
Really, so what if someone owns a gun anyways--I care about as much as if he owns a Chevrolet. What a person owns and what he does with it in the bounds of the law is his own business. If, however, it is a CRIME to carry a concealed weapon in his juristiction, or a criminal background check reveals possession of a stolen weapon, domestic violence, or other crimes of that nature...well then it would be quite a concern to me.
> Cats land on their feet. Toast lands jellyside
> down. A cat glued to some jelly toast will
> hover in quantum indecision
No, the strength of the "cat lands on feet" force is much greater than the strength of the "jelly side down" force. So jelly toast strapped to a cat will always land cat side down (assuming a drop of sufficient length, as cats do not land feet side down if dropped upside down from a height insufficient for turning around). At least, that's what my extensive (and messy) experimentation shows. However, I have been unable to ascertain the effects of lashing two cats together back to back.
(obdisclaimer: no animals were hurt in the making of this post. I do not really think that anyone should lash two cats together back to back -- or lash jelly toast to a cat, for that matter)
I tried the barcode app, and I cannot get it to work.
I am scanning on an AGFA duoscan in RGB and then saving the
file as GIF and JPG. To scan, I am importing it into Photoshop 7.
Tried greyscale, sharpening, contrast, discarding color info, etc.
I have cleaned the ID with Windex, cropped it so only the barcode is there, it is rightside up.
The files range in size from 1.5Mb to 2Mb, it is an Iowa drivers license and I am doing this at a printing facility, so I know if it is possible, I have the resources here to do it.
I wouldn't post this if I didn't just waste 3 hours trying to get it to work. This isn't a RTFM post, I am a UNIX/Mac admin working at a print facility. Being Java, I'd think it would run on OS X or WIndows the same, right?
I'm beginning to think it was printed bad, I do notice the dots have curved edges. I'll even send a partial sample to someone if they want proof!
I had to lookup RTFA. "RTFA --- "read the fucking article"; applies mostly to Slashdot threads, for users who make comments on a story without having read it first." Funny shit.
I have tried scanning several licenses from NC and can't get anything to work with this site.. Multiple image formats, contrast levels, etc.. I even tried some commercial software that reads 2d codes rather than their slooow java app.. I found out that NC encodes binary data (your photo) along with the rest of the normal data.. Anyway, I got to looking at their site and if you go to the online page and save the page, then modify it so it's pointing to decode2.jsp rather than decode.jsp, the online app works.. ie: FORM METHOD=POST ENCTYPE="multipart/form-data" ACTION="http://66.93.183.118:7777/swipe/decode2.js p" Unfortunately even the online version still doesn't recognize NC id's..
The problem is not a lack of privacy, but lack of personal dignity. In the late 90's, the FBI paid a sniper to shoot the wife and infant son of a man suspected of trying to sell a sawed off shotgun (Ruby Ridge). His alleged crime was attempting to sell one of his old shotguns in which the barrel was a mere two inches too short. He had been arraigned and given a court date. Then the FBI changed the court date without informing him, and when he failed to show up in court, they raided his place.
They didn't need his biometric information. It had been speculated that he was a white separatist - in other words, someone who had a different view of race relations than the politically correct multi-culti. His solution to the problem of racial tension was to merely move away from it.
And for this, his wife was killed - because, of course, the FBI thought that she was the ringleader in an illegal weapons trade. Never mind any notion of justice, fair trials, or whatnot.
Privacy is just a red herring folks. Stories like Ruby Ridge happen all the time, but the media attaches to a "privacy rights" story to keep things like this out of the public consciousness.
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.