Dave wrote... > Why would this be the case? I don't have to show any ID to > buy groceries now... Do you think that the mere existence of > a national ID would change how we do all business? Would > I have to have my ID verified to buy a hot dog from the > vendor at a ball game? Would I even go to a ball game?
Very true, my example was extreme, and as Ruben mentioned, the card could come into play for various levels of purchases. Let's use a less extreme example, suppose you are stopped by the police for speeding / traffic violation and your card can't be authenticated? Then what? Do they let you go because the system is down? Do they arrest you because your credentials can't be verified? Will they be given the authority to detain you for hours while attempting to verify your credentials? With Homeland Security, we all know very well that any system can and will be abused. How many stories have we read about abuses at airports for incoming travelers being detained and strip searched? How many over zealous police or security personnel will arrest someone simply because their credentials can't be identified because the central authority is not available or the card is damaged or they forgot their card? Another example, that would not necessarily be extreme, would be purchasing airline tickets. The same potential problems apply. Here's another question, if we were to go to a national ID system, does that mean we require all foreign visitors / travelers to have some sort of national issued ID also? Even if you required foreign travelers to carry their passports, that is a system that can be easily defeated. I am a dual citizen and legally have passports for two countries, suppose I am asked for my national ID and I simply say that I am a foreigner, and by the way, here is my passport to prove it? Just thinking out loud :-) > By the way, despite my argument with your Kroger example (are > they still in business?), I have no argument with your > fundamental point, that any system that has a central > authorization system therefore has a single point of failure. Unfortunately, even if it wasn't a single point of failure issue, if you don't have a centralized authentication point, the system can be defeated. The more distributed the authentication becomes, the easier it would be to compromise the system and enter bogus credentials. > > By the way, a while back I posted an article about Donald Rumsfeld > > wanting to make it MANDATORY for every computer sold in the US to > > require a secured card to allow use - even home computers. > I can dig > > up that article if anyone is interested. > > This from the party that promised to "get the government off > the backs of the people." If I was a Republican, I'd be > embarrassed. Thankfully, I'm not. When I read this article I was floored. I can't imagine many more ways that the government could intrude on your privacy other than monitoring your computer use and internet access. If that had ever come to pass, it would have taken about 1 hour for someone to come up with a way to defeat the system. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
