 - Last login: 7 hours agoSmugllama
- Jason is a 30 year old single guy from Mount Vernon, Washington, USA.
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- Member since Mar 03, 2005
Almost all religions peach that love is the supreme virtue... And a few spiritual teachers perceiving that we are all gifted at loving what pleases us, teach that the highest, the most edifying forms, which might ultimately save the world, involve our regard for those it is difficult to love; some of whom are our enemies.
- Steve Allen
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Why I'm more than a little hesitant about PayPass
A couple of years ago, my bank, Key Bank, sent me a new debit/atm card, completely unsolicited. My previous card wasn't going to expire for some time, but they were anxious enough to ignore that and send me new cards anyways. Well, after reading through everything that Key sent with the card, it was clear that this new PayPass system comes embedded with an RFID chip, but it never came right out and used those four magic letters, R-F-I-D.
I decided I wasn't going to accept their new cards, and decided to destroy them. I cut up the first card, and noticed what appeared to be a very thin copper wire running through the card in several concentric loops around the outside edge of the card. Yep, RFID, I was sure now. I microwaved the other card and found the actual chip itself somewhere approximately near the middle. Stupid RFID cards, I thought. And that was the last I heard of it. ... for quite a while.
Well, now my card really has expired again, and Key sent the replacement cards with the embedded PayPass systems. I don't have an easy option for declining these ones short of calling my bank and trying to argue with their customer service reps about why I don't want an RFID-enabled bank card.
As I sat thinking about how much trouble I was willing to go through, and just how paranoid I was for even thinking about trying to avoid this, I noticed some small print on the back of a card with a company name, "Axalto", and the trademark symbol.
A little research on Axalto left me more paranoid than when I started. Damn.
Axalto was previously a department of Schlumberger. Schlumberger bought Sema and the department became part of SchlumbergerSema. When the department was sold to Atos Origin it was then named Axalto. Axalto has since gone public, merged with it's main competitor, Gemplus, and is now called Gemalto. It is when I look at Gemalto's leadership that my concerns are driven home:
Alex J. Mandl, is my primary concern. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_J._Mandl [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_J._Mandl]
From 1999 to 2002, he served on the Board of Directors at In-Q-Tel. In-Q-Tel is, of course, the "venture capital firm that invests in high-tech companies for the sole purpose of keeping the Central Intelligence Agency equipped with the latest in information technology in support of United States intelligence capability. ... In-Q-Tel's mission is to identify and invest in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve United States national security interests." - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-Q-Tel [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-Q-Tel]
Mandl resigned his In-Q-Tel job to become the CEO of Gemplus International, the company that merged with Axalto to form Gemalto. He now serves as Executive Chairman of Gemalto.
I found another Gemalto executive, Olivier Piou, who lacks Mandl's colorful background, but makes up for with some very colorful remarks given at the United Nations World Summit on Information Society in Geneva on December 12, 2003:
"But biometrics can also turn into the most dangerous for the civil society if such identification technologies are deployed without a smart card. I.e. if they are used without asking citizens to keep with them their identity card, and without asking them for a voluntary action to be authenticated: software and global digital networks would then be able to permanently track citizens activities, without them knowing."
"Wireless technologies also present a similar threat to privacy: while it is relatively easy to turn off a cellular phone (because all of them have an ON/OFF button!), radio-frequency identification systems - also known as RFID or contactless systems - are activated from a distance. It becomes so very easy to install a reading antenna, in the subway or in any place like in this conference room, to detect who is there without awareness and consent."
Olivier Piou was the CEO of Axalto and is the current CEO of Gemalto. His entire speech is worth a read (Word .doc format) itu.int/wsis/geneva/coverage/statements/axalto/b16.doc [itu.int/wsis/geneva/coverage/statements/axalto/b16.doc]
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