Fraudsters have proved to us that fake documents have made signature system unreliable while skimmers and pin-hole cameras have made PIN number system unreliable. Is it not obvious that unless banks implement ID KEY system which will make both these systems banks make us use reliable, fraud crimes will continue grow?

ID KEY system will

*Make signature system reliable by activating printer at point of transaction to print ID sticker (small sticker with person’s photo and name printed on it) which when applied and countersigned on document will personalise signature. In Identity fraud fraudsters have option to misuse victim’s personal details but not their unique appearance (true identity or visible biometric).

Current signature system is like passports without photos and that is why it is so difficult to deter and prosecute fraudsters.

* Use invisible Card Key Code personalised to specific cards to activate ATM transaction. This will make it meaningless for fraudsters to skim cards and pick PIN numbers. For extra safety Card Key Code will change to a new value after every transaction.

ID KEY system will eliminate the need for us to protect our personal details and even PIN numbers from fraudsters.

The "ho hum" you refer to was actually quite a loud uproar, muted only by this administration’s lies and right wing propoganda that claims the same people who deceived us about WMD and these very programs could be trusted to do the right thing with their invented new powers. Those powers are outside the law and as such can’t be used in normal legal proceedings. If they are good at all, they are only good for furthering other extra-legal activities. The fact that Democrats haven’t stopped this is a function of their numbers, not the people’s will.

There is nothing idealistic about wanting a free society. It is the only way to survive long-term. History shows that no matter how benign the first dictator is, he will soon be followed by a despot. Any rights you willingly give up for the sake of convenience or perceived security now will only come back to haunt your children and grandchildren living under oppression. So choose wisely. It is up to me and you, as long as our society is still democratic.

IMHO, the “genie” is already “out of the bottle”. Mixing metaphors, “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men” can’t “put the toothpaste back in the tube again”.

So-called “privacy” is a lost cause. In our western society, unless a person is a hermit, or homeless – or a thief using your identity – he or she leaves dozens of computer records of his or her location and activities every day. Every email and posting to your website is recorded by your ISP. Every call by your phone company. Every credit card purchase. You image appears on the video monitoring the ATM terminal. Even if you pay cash, your video is recorded at the supermarket or library or bookstore or subway or bus trip, etc.

The overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens see nothing wrong with that. They would oppose your law about personal ownership of all personal data if they were told that it would impact access to modern technology or increase costs.

That’s the reason the recently revealed NSA monitoring of phone number transactions was greeted by a giant “ho hum” by the public. Leading Democrats gave the NSA a pass on it because opposition has no political traction. I suspect most international and many national phone calls and emails are being “gisted” by computers for “key words” that may indicate illegal activities. I suspect that this information is processed by NSA computers. When a suspect pattern exceeds a set threshold, the recorded calls or email text is reviewed by a human agent. Then, if the information warrants, he or she seeks a court order for further investigation. If and when this comes out in the press, we will hear another big “ho hum”.

I think we are already in the “global surveillance society”. We already have all the negative aspects of surveillance. I think it is time we accept that and try to exploit some of the positive aspects for our convenience and greater personal security.

You have a vision of an ideal world where an ideal government makes ideal laws for the benefit of an ideal population. Realistically, that is not the world we live in. Government will always favor those with money and special interests. Big corporations, big labor, big government. It will be that way until all citizens, including politicians, turn into saints, or, more likely, we incinerate ourselves with nuclear weapons or are done in by some natural or terrorist biological agent.

Of course, I respect your right to have another opinion. Good luck!

To the extent that a one time pad can facilitate a secure transaction with your bank, even in an insecure environment like a mall or supermarket, it can be used as a debit card. Credit cards require the vendor to store your information as a "man in the middle" and as such should go away. But debit with a truly secure "pin" equivalent would be fine. Tracking RFIDs is a mistake though, at least until we have laws stating that you own all of your personal information (including purchases) and no company can collect, store, and sell it without your express permission. Law enforcement should need more than your permission. They should require a court order, and even then, I should be able to set the policy as to the length and type of data retention these companies use for my personal information.

I’ll accept your assumption that your idea of a “one-time pad” security verification system can be incorporated into a small package along with a biometric sensor or two (and an active RFID chip for good measure). The device would be carried in your wallet or slip into your cell phone.

Initially, each bank would issue their own Positive ID (“PID”) credit card. However, in response to consumer needs, a Universal PID (“UPID”) would be made available. The random data and biometrics and algorithms for each bank would be stored in a separate partition on the UPID and would be independently accessed and updated only by that specific bank. You would approve all additions and updates.

As the UPID gained popularity, other organizations such as the Motor Vehicle Department, hospitals, Social Security, and so on, would each claim their partition on the UPID, with your approval. The UPID would become a very convenient universal credit card and drivers license and highway toll Speedpass and passport and medical ID that would be the equivalent of having a dozen or more PIDs at a time.

The UPID would recognize the RFID transponder at the “Speedpass” toll booth, the RFID at the library, the bookstore, the supermarket, and so on.

By that time all consuer products will have their own RFID chip in them. Every can of soda, every book, and so on will have its own RFID number! You could walk into any store, pick up what you need, and walk out. The green light at the exit would signify that your UPID was valid and that all the items have been billed to your designated credit card. (If you wanted a printed receipt you could punch a handy terminal to get one.)

If you chose to leave your UPID on all the time, you will leave a record of your purchases and all your comings and goings. However, this record would not all be on a single “Google brain” computer (as you describe in your “Identity Theft” story).

Various parts would be on the computers of different banks, supermarkets, libraries, and other organizations. Each partition would know you by a different ID number and much of the data would not be directly associated with your name.

(This is similar to the dozens of video records you currently leave every day on the video cameras of banks and supermarkets as you go about your daily routines. It would be more private than the dozens of credit card and cell phone call records that you you leave every day. These include your name and location at the time of the transaction.)

If you lost your UPID you would have a spare hidden in your house or car or at a friend’s place. Or, you could go to a bank, prove your identity via DNA, and get a replacement.

In addition to the obvious consumer convenience:

1) A lost UPID, without your biometric, would be of no value to a thief. However, if he or she left it on, it would be a great way to track the thief.

2) If you turned up missing, your spouse or trusted friend would release an authorization with your account numbers. All applicable computer records would be searched for a given time period to determine where you were when your UPID stopped working. If your UPID was still on, it would specify your most recent location. That would be a great way to locate and possibly rescue you, or at least provide a clue as to who did you in and where.

3) If you were falsely accused of a crime, you could authorize release of the location records to prove you were elsewhere.

4) If someone was rightfuly suspected of a crime, the authorities, with a court order, could get access to his or her UPID records near the time of the crime to help get other clues and prove their case.

5) Your laptops and PCs would have an interface compatible with your UPID. That would allow you to PID-stamp your emails and website entries such that recipients and surfers would be assured it was really you who posted them. (You could set the posting to be “anonymous”, and that would protect your privacy, but also alert the recipients to the possibility of fraud.)

6) Once nearly everyone has a UPID, and most of us leave it on all the time (as I do my cellphone), anyone who walks by without an active UPID will be marked as a “stranger”. This will restore something like the “Small Town” security situation where “everyone knows everyone else”. When I was a kid in 1940′s Brooklyn, I could walk into the grocery on our street, buy what my mom told me to get, and ask the grocer to “mark it down”. Mom would stop by every couple days and pay the bill. When we lived in rural upstate NY in the 1970′s, the guy at the General Store would leave the store unattended on the “honor system” when he had errands to run. No cards, just Positive ID in action!

How about it Avi? Are you ready to sign up for Unversal Positive ID?