SmartMetric’s SmartCard to Eliminate Identity Theft? I Doubt it!
SmartMetric has developed a SmartCard that has a built in finger print scanner. Without the the proper fingerprint the SmartCard can not be unlocked or used rendering it useless to anyone but the owner. The company believes that their SmartCard is poised to take over the SmartCard Market. They claim it could eliminate Identity theft, which I doubt.
This device will no doubt be a good security measure if it is accepted by the financial and banking community. But to say that it can prevent or eliminate identity theft is ridiculous. I guess it depends on your definition of identity theft. I view it as a crime of stealing someone’s personal, identifying information for the purpose of using that information fraudulently. Sure so the SmartCard might prevent someone from stealing your existing credit cards, but will not prevent someone from applying for new ones?
The main feature that make this card more secure is the built in finger print scanner that unlocks the card for use. Well as the Mythbusters’ show on the Discovery channel demonstrated you can lift and reproduce a fingerprint to fool a fingerprint scanner. They successfully accomplished this with several different fingerprint scanners and were even successful with scanners that could sense moisture and warmth. If you don’t think criminals would go through the trouble to replicate your fingerprint you’re wrong. If this form of payment got popular enough people would find ways to hack their way into the device quickly and effectively.
So keep your eyes out for the SmartMetric SmartCard, but don’t think for a second that the battle with identity theft is over. It is a long and never ending battle and we must all be cautious and prepared.
