FTC to Scrutinize Contactless Payment Technology

coondoggie writes to tell us that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be taking a look at contactless payment systems and the consumer protection issue surrounding them. "RFID technology provides obvious benefits, the FTC said. For example, the ability of producers using RFID to track exactly where in the supply chain their products are and by which retailer they were ultimately sold to a consumer has the potential to make product recalls more effective. However, there also may be costs regarding consumers' individual privacy rights associated with it."

Comments

Hmmm

[Uncle Focker]

For example, the ability of producers using RFID to track exactly where in the supply chain their products are and by which retailer they were ultimately sold to a consumer has the potential to make product recalls more effective. How about making it so that in this day and age you can actually mail a package and not have to worry about it getting lost along the way? I'd find that much more useful.

Re:Hmmm

[asills]

False on the registered mail crap. When the postal carriers deliver registered mail they are required to scan it. However, it's apparently a daunting task to do it at the time of delivery so a lot of carriers do them all at once at the beginning of the day. Then they go and deliver.

It's against the rules, but they do it. I've had things say they were delivered at 9am, yet my carrier doesn't arrive until after noon. Without the registered mail envelope no less (it got lost somewhere in between).

My wife's mother works at the USPS and confirmed this is common practice though disallowed. They all do it.

Re:Hmmm

[rfunches]

The time they scan it in is beside the point. (In fact there was an investigation into our branch office for doing just that -- scanning mail as delivered without actually delivering it or scanning as delivered prior to actual delivery.) The problem is that employees, contracted or federal, can steal any mailpiece except for registered mail and possibly get away with it because of how many hands it can change between scans. When every change of hands requires a physical record and signature, which only happens with reg mail, it's impossible to game the system -- USPS points the finger at the last employee who signed for the mailpiece. And yes, I've had to track down seemingly lost registered mail by calling each office where the piece stopped, inquiring based on lock and seal numbers kept in paper records. That's why I argue registered mail just doesn't get lost; no one wants a lost mailpiece pinned on them.

Re:We are too lazy..

[abolitiontheory]

No.

Track this back.

"When doing anything that requires physical transation of cash is too much work and we'd rather risk out financial info being stolen because its on a little plastic card, we have serious issues."

"When doing anything that requires physical transation of goods and property is too much work and we'd rather risk our wealth being stolen because its in an easily transportable paper form, we have serious issues."

This is an arguement by current position, in which new technology seems unnecessary and old technology isn't scrutinized.

To be honest, what I'm scared of is the day they start implanting these in our wrists and foreheads. And before you mark me flamebait, don't tell me it isn't the logical extension of this technology, in SOME way.

So, I agree with you in part, that this is a bit excessive to our minds right now, but almost any other parallel to new vs. old technology can be drawn to show that eventually, someone will say the same thing about the next, easier system that comes out. So aside from actual detrimental side-effects like cancer or teletubbies, this argument just shows your age.

Re:Lower repair costs.

[eln]

Actually, we're currently technically not capable of sending a man to the moon. Check back around 2020 though, then we can start saying that again.

Re:Lower repair costs.

[Lumpy]

Problem is that the cost of Credit card and Debit card fraud is incredibly small compared to the cost of even giving slightly improved security to the system we have now. The number pad could have dynamic numbers. the numbers on the pad change for every use, scrambled so a camera off axis cant see the numbers from the pattern. Even changing to the smart-card based cards is far more expensive than the amount lost to fraud.

Banks, contrary to what they advertise and tell you, do not give a rats ass if someone steals your money or identity. So they will do as little as possible to make sure information is secure. If it costs them money, they will do everything possible to not do it.

The RFID based card system has even died. Most banks did not offer the cards and almost every store and restaurant I saw that had the readers installed now have them removed, almost everyone is abandoning it. Glad to see the government researching a dead technology. I wonder when they will research if the 6809 processor is safe for use in space.

Re:We are too lazy..

[Chosen Reject]

I wouldn't mind a checkout system where they didn't even need to find the upc (or for that matter, could scan the whole cart in one go instead of item by item).

I'd be bothered by that. Well, not me, but my wife would. She watches as each item goes by to make sure that the price they are charging is the price that was on the shelf. I just let it go, but it seems that nearly every time she does the shopping at least one item is priced higher at checkout than on the shelf, and because they do it one item at a time, she can catch that easier.

Maybe with RFID being used the entire trip from maker to deliverer to stock boy to shelf to checkout then they can keep the prices updated better, but until I see it, I doubt my wife or people like her will end up using any less time at the checkout for this reason.