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Decode Your Barcode, Get Your Personal Info

Posted by michael on from the mark-of-the-beast dept.

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."

9 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. Old POS system by KalvinB · · Score: 5, Informative

    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

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    1. Re:Old POS system by LostCluster · · Score: 4, Informative

      Most barcode readers / magnetic swipe readers work with drivers that simulate keystrokes... and that's why the point at which you're allowed to scan the card just happens to be same screen at which you can type the number in manually. The device just needs to be configured for what sequence of enters/tabs/etc. to enter after a scanned number.

      For example, a credit card reader at a POS unit would be set to output the first 16 characters on the card, and then maybe [tab] to exit the entry box and [enter] to clear the "Are you sure? Y" prompt. Hook the same reader up to any free-text entry screen, and the number ends up in plain view.

    2. Re:Old POS system by MikeDawg · · Score: 4, Informative

      I used to work for a POS Helpdesk for an *unnamed* gas station/c-store. We could always dig through the log files to read what sort of input was recorded from a cardswipe on a CC#. There are actually several (usually 2 readable) tracks on your average CC.

      The data on the MS of your major CCs are usually <15-16 digits - ala your CC #>=<exp date>

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  2. May or may not work by jkitchel · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  3. Re:DMCA the freakers! by LostCluster · · Score: 4, Informative

    IANAL, but I'm a news writer at times...

    And you can't copyright a fact. A copyright on a 9, 10, or 11 digit number just isn't going to stand, and neither is a copyright on an address. It is your address or number, it already appears on plenty of public records, and thereofore uncopyrightable documents. You can copyright an expression of a fact, so maybe a copyright of your address in your handwighting will stand... but you're not going to ever get copyright protection on your personal info, reporters can use your name all they want while talking about you, and the same goes for basic facts about you.

  4. Use the "Fletch" Approach to disappear.... by i_want_you_to_throw_ · · Score: 5, Informative

    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

    1. Re:Use the "Fletch" Approach to disappear.... by coolmacdude · · Score: 5, Informative

      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.

      LOL, not anymore.

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  5. Re:Credit cards by Nashirak · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually the first digit doesnt always tell what kind of card it is. You can also work the checksum algorithm from simply the numbers (This is called the Luhn alogrithm). The way credit cards are usually handled is as follows:
    (where the numbers are the first numbers of the credit card number)
    Visa - 4
    Mastercard - 51-55
    Discover - 6011
    Amex - 34

    In fact credit card companies have a specific range of numbers to pull from, clubs have another range, and there a few other number ranges that are broken up... see:

    http://www.merriampark.com/anatomycc.htm for a better indepth overview.

  6. Re:Death to magnetic stripes by afidel · · Score: 4, Informative

    No, you sir are the idiot. Speaker flux density for even mediocre magnets can be in the 10K Gauss range as seen here , and that's for ferrite magnets, rare-earth (mostly Neodymium) magnets can easily reach twice that. Sure simple ferrous magnets in cheap speakers are only around 1K Gauss but the OP might easily have had a magnet powerfull enough to wipe his card.

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