Privacy Pitfalls in No-Swipe Credit Cards

Nrbelex writes to mention a New York Times article about the privacy pitfalls of 'no-swipe' credit cards. Despite assurances from the card companies, researchers Tom Heydt-Benjamin and Kevin Fu were able to easily retrieve data from the new cards ... data available without encryption and in plain text. From the article: "They could skim and store the information from a card with a device the size of a couple of paperback books, which they cobbled together from readily available computer and radio components for $150. They say they could probably make another one even smaller and cheaper: about the size of a pack of gum for less than $50. And because the cards can be read even through a wallet or an item of clothing, the security of the information, the researchers say, is startlingly weak. 'Would you be comfortable wearing your name, your credit card number and your card expiration date on your T-shirt?' Mr. Heydt-Benjamin, a graduate student, asked."

Comments

cardholders are not liable for fraud?? WTF

[swestcott]

Ahhh this is complete BS because do you really think the CC companies just say ok we will pay for this NO we all pay for it they pass the cost on to us all. Not to mention all the time we will spend on hold trying to get a rep on the phone to clear up all the mess. We should be compensated for our lost time.

Feel Safer?

[Doc Ruby]

The Bush administration's genius for Homeland Security and planning is replacing our passports with this untrustworthy "wireless scanning" tech starting next year.

What happens when someone changes your passport data without you're knowing, outside the country, and they send you to Guantanamo. Years of of "interviews" on an electric waterboard, while all you've got for the "interview consultants" is "I don't know what happened" - years everyone thinks you got kidnapped by terrorists, because your lawyer never heard from you.