Archive
Passwords in the future could be replaced by your heartbeat
Soon, your computers and personal data may no longer need an overly complicated or easily deciphered password to protect, only your beating heart.
User-created passwords could one day become obsolete, if research led by Chun-Liang Lin at the National Chung Hsing University in Taichung, Taiwan, proves successful.
The industrious team behind this groundbreaking new technology, which creates a fully-encrypted password out of a user’s heartbeat, could forever change the way we access our protected and valuable personal information. Email passwords, bank account passwords, and more could all be accessed with the touch of your finger and verified with the beat of your heart.
How does it work, though? According to a recent article in New Scientist, the team over at the National Chung Hsing University has successfully tested the concept of translating a human heartbeat into an encryption key by using and electrocardiograph (ECG) reading from a person’s palm and Read more…
How to Beat Facial-Recognition Software
Over the last decade, computers have become better at seeing faces. Software can tell if a camera has a face in its frame of vision, and law enforcement has been testing facial-recognition programs that can supposedly pick out suspects in a crowd. That’s prompted an arms race between the people who build facial-recognition systems — and those seeking ways to defeat them.
Facial-recognition software is becoming a bigger issue for privacy advocates as well. Surveillance cameras are already ubiquitous in the U.K., are showing up in more places in the U.S. and may increasingly be connected to facial-recognition systems.
“I went to a Kinko’s a while ago,” said Alex Kilpatrick, chief technology officer and co-founder of Tactical Information Systems, a company in Austin, Texas, that sells facial-recognition software to Read more…
Fla. schools use palm vein for lunch payments
The Pinellas County School Board District in Clearwater, Fla. has paired up with technology provider Fujitsu Frontech North America to provide a reliable and secure method of handling school food service program transactions.
With more than 102,000 students, the district is the seventh largest in the state and the 24th largest in the nation. Efficiently serving this large population has, at times, proven challenging for the district, particularly in the school cafeteria snack and lunch lines.
Officials have tried everything from swipe cards to PINs, none of which seemed to help. The district even tested a fingerprint scanning system but it proved unreliable. “Students would place their finger on the scanner and leave behind oil, dirt, and residues. This would cause the system to malfunction or freeze up delaying the cafeteria lunch lines,” said Art Dunham, director of Food Service Department at Pinellas County Schools.
Then the district learned about vascular biometrics. Unlike other biometrics, Read more…
Edible Microchips, Biometric Identity Systems And Mind Reading Computers
As technology continues to advance at an exponential rate, will we someday find ourselves living in a “scientific dictatorship” where virtually everything that we do, say and think is monitored and controlled by technology? To many of you that may sound like a wild assertion, but just keep reading. Our world is changing faster than ever before, and scientists have some absolutely wild things planned for our future. As you read this, they are feverishly developing edible microchips, cutting edge biometric identity systems, and mind reading computers. Many futurists envision a world where someday nearly all humans are embedded with microchips and have thousands of tiny nanobots living inside of them. The idea is that we can “take control of our own evolution” and use technology to “improve” humanity. But very few of those futurists address the potential downsides. The truth is that all of this technology could one day be used by a totalitarian government to establish a dystopian nightmare where nobody has any liberties and freedoms whatsoever.
The world of tomorrow is not going to be anything like the world of today, and most people have no idea how dramatically the world is changing.
For instance, many people have never even heard of “edible microchips”.
Unfortunately, they are Read more…
Biometrics in Argentina: Mass Surveillance as a State Policy
advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org
Two years ago, the UK dismantled their national ID scheme and shredded their National Identity Registry in response to great public outcry over the privacy-invasive program. Unfortunately privacy protections have been less rosy elsewhere. In Argentina, the national ID fight was lost some time ago. A law enacted during the military dictatorship forced all individuals to obtain a government-mandated ID. Now, they are in the process of enhancing its mandatory National Registry of Persons (RENAPER) with biometric data such as fingerprints and digitized faces. The government plans to repurpose this database in order to facilitate “easyaccess” to law enforcement by merging this data into a new, security-focused integrated system. This raises the specter of mass surveillance, as Argentinean law enforcement will have access to Read more…
China to fingerprint all foreigners
Chinese lawmakers are currently considering new visa rules that would require all visitors working and studying in the country to have their fingerprints scanned as they enter and exit
China will join other East Asian countries in fingerprinting foreigners // Source: net.mkAll foreigners entering and exiting China could soon be fingerprinted by customs officials.
Chinese lawmakers are currently considering new visa rules that would require all visitors working and studying in the country to have their fingerprints scanned.
The rules would only apply to foreigners requesting residence visas, which allow an individual to stay in the country for six months or more. Business people, journalists, and students, who typically apply for residence visas, would be affected Read more…
FTC seeks public comments on facial recognition
The USA’s Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comments on facial recognition technology and the privacy and security implications raised by its increasing use.
A public workshop held in December – “Face Facts: A Forum on Facial Recognition Technology” – focused on the current and future commercial applications of facial detection and recognition technologies, and explored an array of current uses of these technologies, possible future uses and benefits, and potential privacy and security concerns. (The agenda for the workshop can be found here, and an archived webcast of the proceedings is viewable here).
The deadline for filing comments is 31 January 2012.
FTC says that facial detection and recognition technologies have been adopted in a variety of new contexts, ranging from online social networks to Read more…
Biometric Identification Will Replace Many Passwords In Next Five Years, Says IBM Scientist
Passwords have been around since ancient history, but they may become obsolete sooner than you think. According to a recent prediction by IBM Speech CTO David Nahamoo, many of the problems with passwords will be solved by biometric systems that can identify individuals based on unique biological features.
It’s not just fingerprints, DNA and retinas anymore; the way you walk is unique and so is the way you type, for example. Orwell references may be inevitable, but the technology can be used for good as well, aiding in various interactive systems, from video games to cars to iPads, and otherwise making it easier to prove that you’re you.
For a long time, it was hard to use biometrics quickly and accurately in our daily lives, but the combination of various identifiers may make the systems convenient enough for widespread use. A recent column in InformationWeek points to the United States Visitor And Information Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) as a prime example of a system that’s been able to scale: “The enrollment and validation of these attributes is fast and accurate enough for use in everyday, large-scale deployments, and the Department of Homeland Security just announced it will pay Accenture Federal Services $71 million over 13 months to further improve the system.”
There’s also India’s massive biometric census project, which is Read more…
e-Passports to add more biometrics by 2014
IMS Research finds a rapid migration from paper or machine readable passports to smart card-based passports (complying with the ICAO standard for e-Passports) started in 2007, leading to nearly half of all passports now in use being e-Passports.
Within five years 90 per cent of passport holders will be using e-passports that integrate a smart card IC chip, according to IMS Research in its report titled, “Electronic Government and Health Care ID Cards – World – 2011.”
“This trend is set to Read more…
Big brother just got bigger
Some employers go to extraordinary lengths to monitor their employees’ movements. RailCorp, for example, plans to introduce fingerprint scanning (otherwise known as biometrics) for employees at fixed locations, while people working on multiple sites will be tracked by the GPS on their phone.
Alex Claassens, the NSW Branch Secretary of the Rail Tram & Bus Union, told me he doesn’t believe these measures are being brought in to combat tardy employees, but he’s still concerned about “the potential for misuse of what will be personal and sensitive information.”
A host of businesses have popped up to service the insatiable demand of Read more…
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://i0.wp.com/www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://i0.wp.com/www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/silver/t24_ag_en_usoz_2.gif)
crisisboom
CRISISBOOM 
You must be logged in to post a comment.