[commentary] Consumerist writes [via LifeHacker] about a bank who threw out a customer for refusing to supply a fingerprint. WTF?! Seems Bank of America’s rules state that thumbprints must be given if a consumer wants to cash a cheque and they are not a BoA customer. Even if the cheque is issued from a BoA […]
Contactless News has an embedded video from Avisian (publisher of RFID-related websites) and Identity Stronghold showing how the latter’s anti-RF (radio frequency) sleeves work. These are small specially designed envelopes that block out RFID readers. The basic principle applied is a Faraday Cage, which is named after physicist Michael Faraday and his experiments in 1836. […]
A trial scheme called miSense where air passengers flying to and from London Heathrow with Cathay Pacific and Emirates are to be fingerprinted is to be introduced inside weeks. The scheme, similar to fingerprinting schemes in US airports, will be voluntary.
Scanners placed in boarding lounges will allow passengers participating in the miSense scheme to have […]
If you live in or have driven in and around either Toronto, Canada, or Atlanta, Georgia, USA, you know how awful traffic is. In Toronto, it take can some out-of-town commuters two hours or more to get to work in the morning, and longer to get home on bad days. And that’s by car. Atlanta […]
FinnAir is using RFID in an innovative way: managing the assignment of employee tasks. Employees use an RFID-enabled Nokia 51401 phone to read off their tasks from one of various locations hosting RFID tags. Their work details are transmitted to their phones, which can then view on their screens. The solution uses IBM’s WebSphere middleware […]
Governments all over the world are moving towards ID cards and RFID-enabled passports to combat ID fraud, welfare fraud and global terrorism. To be honest I am sceptical as to how a card will actually be able to stop a terror attack because an active cell will either be totally underground or assimilated into society […]
Finextra reports that a group called the Smart Card Alliance (SCA) is refuting the findings of two researchers studying RFID-enabled contactless credit cards recently. [Note: The Finextra article does not have a link, and they refer to the Smart Card Assocation, which I believe is an error. Here is a link to what appears to […]
A New York Times piece earlier this week suggests that identity thieves might be found more easily by looking to the victim’s family members, that they in fact might be the thief. The culprits might be spurned relatives, ex-spouses, or anyone in the immediate family with motivation and access. In the case of Eric Wagenhauser, […]
National ID cards have been around for years and have actually been mandatory in countries such as Germany and Italy. Other countries such as Australia, Canada and France have an ID card scheme that is voluntary, but can be used as proof of identity to open bank accounts and use public services. Further […]
Despite growing public concern and skepticism from civil rights groups, Tony Blair’s New Labour government have made it clear that they plan to push on with their plans to issue everyone in the UK an identity card. The new ID card will combine some form of biometric information (fingerprint / irish / facial scan) […]