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Fingerprints Replace Credit Cards in Seattle
prostoalex writes "According to CNET News.com, Thriftway introduced biometric systems in its Seattle stores as far back as 2002. The customer would have to be identified first and submit his own fingerprints, as well as register credit cards with the grocery store. But then a Pay By Touch system became quite popular among the store regulars. According to CNET, "one man even drove 400 miles to use the technology". The store also reports 0% of such transactions being fraudulent."
I guess this is the future... I just hope such info won't be crosschecked for national security's sake.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
The store also reports 0% of such transactions being fraudulent."
I don't think anybody's going to let you buy stuff with a severed finger.
What it could also mean is that most people don't reconcile their statements at the end of the month, and that the people who use this system are even more likely not to bother, because they trust it more.
Or not.
But give it time, someone will figure out how to scam it.
How is this a really good thing?
How well does it work on someone that does a lot of physical activity (woodworking/metalworking) who might not have very good ridge detail?
Picture of a fingerprint, how could you "print" it out, complete with ridges? Laytex, or maybe silicone would be nice, something I could glue to my fingertips, temporarily. Also, what are the oldest fingerprints available, that would show up in a search? I'd like to be a 170 yr old, 90 yrs dead suspect, or, supposing celebrity fingerprints are available, George W. Bush himself!
And then for when I get caught, fingerprints with an embedded "Fuck You Pigs" logo that would show up on the fingerprint card....
Someone may have more experience with this than I do, but this is a bit scary. Has anyone else read the book "Stealing the Network". It goes into some detail on the subject of synthetic fingerprints and just how easy they are to make at home. The book is at home and I am at work or I would post the links that they have as refereneces. I can see the usefulness of the fingerprint perhaps replacing the signature or pin number, but the whole credit card!!! I don't know about you guys but when I realize that I left my credit card sitting around in a public place I freak out. I guess I am going to have to wear gloves from now on, or carry around a bottle of cleaning solution everywhere I go.
Someone with more experience please comment, especially if you have the links from that book, I am curious to read up.
Thanks
Crawl This - http://darkry.net/test/test.php
1) Have sales of gummy bears experienced a dramatic surge in the area?
and...
2) Can I choose which finger to give them for my biometrics?
Bear with my bad SF for a moment. Western civilization seems to be converging to the point where citizens will have no choice, but will depend upon a handful of mega-corporations for their sustenance, while at the same time having to give not only their time and energy, but also their identity in return. By this time, privacy will have been successfully abolished and its last traces outlawed. Every adoption of RFIDs, DRM technology - as well as every merger between huge corporate actors is pushing the world nearer to a dystopic future.
Not a flamebait, just feeling the need to vent. Mod me a fool and placate me, please.
A person with good slight of hand talent could easily use the gummi bear trick.
I also wonder if they allow this to very age for purchase of alcohol and tobacco.
"Plans are for fools! Oglethorpe, the plutonian (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
Amazon: "I'm sorry sir, you *DID* buy 20 copies of the first season of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE. We have your finger-print scan in our computer to prove it."
If you are using a finger-print scanner to make ANY purchase, get ready to spend the rest of your life tracking down fraudulent purchases.
Sam
From an article (reg req'd) on identity theft:
True story? Who knows, but the moral of it is not to put all your faith in technology, and never underestimate criminals. Some may not be very bright, but that's more than made up for by their cunning.
In a couple episodes of CSI, the perpetrator made rubber hands that had fingerprints from a live person. (Admittedly, his own, but that's a plot complication I don't feel like explaining.)
Extend that concept to rubber-mold gloves.
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I ask because at the science museum in London, there is an area where you can experiment with several computer based activities and save the results using your finger print. I had to try several fingers before I found one which wasn't incorrectly identified as someone else's.
I would guess that the technology used in this situation is not as accurate as that which would be used for credit cards but still it is still a rather worrying thought that someone else's fingerprint could be mistakenly thought to be mine by a creid card system.
I wish to remain anomalous
The only finnicky part is getting your fingerprint pattern key (the raw info is not sent, it gets crunched down by the scanner,) into the database on somebody ELSE's account. HE will be the one stuck with the bill.
You can then run the scam the same way.
Actually it takes less balls to do it because either it works and your laughing or it doesn't and your mutter something about a new scar on your fingerprint to a clerk.
You don't have to worry about getting caught because you're going to have created a false positive (doubling the key) rather than replacing a real record.
Your fingerprint is essentially worthless for security when you've got access to a scanner and to the system.
The trust-worthyness of the original scanner and scannee is the key. The more paranoid you need to be, the more data points you pick, and the more tightly you control the access to the system.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
I recall a review of some new biometric-enabled mice that came out, and the trivial way to trick them - cup your hand over the sensor, and breathe softly on it.
The existing oils will pick up the water vapor to form the pattern of the last finger on it, and the heat of the breath triggered the sensor to read it.
What amused me the most was I went to tell my boss at the time how these researchers had found such a simple way to break it, and he said "Oh... I just bought one of those yesterday." Heh.
you joke, but that's the main reason i moved 'home' to Tennessee from Oregon. in greeneville, voted 2000 Best Small Town in America (or something), i can walk into the bar, have a few drinks, and leave. 'Running tabs' as it were. (the TN A.B.C says this is illegal and comes ready with a $1500 fine, per offense ... ) This method of purchase / interaction with store owners includes (but not limited to) the local hardware store, grocery store, computer shack, etc, etc. I enjoy the fact if i forget my wallet/chequebook/safe-deposit key (the last one is frightening, but true.) the clerk knows me and i can simply say 'can i bring you a cheque tomorrow?' ...
.02$us.
smaller towns you loose too much privacy, bigger towns you have no hope of being remebered. I personally like the middle of all that, which is why tn is a great place.
you can't have everything, where would you put it?
Especially as in TX, where they require (I believe the right) THUMB print only. One is not allowed to use other fingers for authentication.
Yeah, right.
Then they developed the new ignitions that require a key with a transponder chip. (I think this was a demand by auto insurance companies.) So, as a result, instead of stealing cars, thieves are now carjacking people in order to get the car with the key in it, with the resulting increase in danger to the owner. Doesn't matter to the insurer as they are only liable for injuries in the case of an auto accident, not for robbery, unless you have supplemental medical coverage as part of your auto policy, which I suspect most people don't.
If this sort of thing becomes popular, it could trigger thieves cutting people's fingers and stripping the fingerprints. I am reminded of a horrid example in the movie "Fighting Back" where a thief wanted to steal a ring from some woman, but she couldn't get it off her finger. So he used a pair of tin snips and cut her finger off. Can't very well damage the ring, can we?
The lessons of history teach us - if they teach us anything - that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us.
Has anyone ever heard of the drug called bextra [valdecoxib (val deh COCK sib)]? It's an arthritis drug. It also has the side effect of making your skin so smooth that you stop making finger prints. I may take awhile for the drug to have this effect, but it sounds interesting.
Old people have nothing to worry about.
Grandma could you get the phone. Oh, it's a telemarketer. Do whatever you have to so they go away.