Adam Shostack wrote:
On Sun, Jul 10, 2005 at 12:13:42AM +0100, Peter Fairbrother wrote:
| Perry E. Metzger wrote:
|
| > A system in which the credit card was replaced by a small, calculator
| > style token with a smartcard style connector could effectively
| > eliminate most of the in person and over the net fraud we experience,
| > and thus get rid of large costs in the system and get rid of the need
| > for every Tom, Dick and Harry to see your drivers license when you
| > make a purchase. It would both improve personal privacy and help the
| > economy by massively reducing transaction costs.
|
| I agree that it might well reduce costs and fraud - but how will it improve
| privacy? Your name is already on the card ... and the issuer will still have
| a list of your transactions.
|
| Not having to show ID may save annoyance, but it doesn't significantly
| improve privacy.
Most credit card issuers will happily give you extra cards, so your
friends can spend your money. In whatever name you want. If you need
to show ID, this can become, umm, complicated.
This goes along with paypal's "send a friend a debit card" feature (I
saw this two years ago, I don't know if this is still present), but this
essentially allowed a user to add any name to the debit visa card
(treated in most places like a credit card) which in some cases actually
allowed online hijacking of domain names (depending on registrar)
because the name was the same on the visa card used.
-Lance
--
Best Regards,
Lance James
Secure Science Corporation
www.securescience.net
Author of 'Phishing Exposed'
http://www.securescience.net/amazon/
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