Convenience is the Key to a Secure Future

Two or three generations from now, it is likely that wallets, money clips and purses will be purely cosmetic. The need for somewhere to carry multiple credit cards, driving licences and other forms of identity, bank cards, check books and assorted other plastic cards will have gone, along with the need for metal keys. All your details for those items will have been combined onto a single miniature chip which will, for those who are fashion conscious, be carried on a bracelet or necklace. Some people may even choose to have it implanted under the skin for security purposes.

The technology for this exists now, and in proven form. The data is secure and reliable. It is only a tiny step forward from the modern "chip and pin" cards we routinely use at ATM's and the RFID chips we are happy to use to pump our gas (such as the Exxon and Mobil "Speedpass"), to pay our road tolls (EZPass) and to keep track of our pets (such as AVID and HomeAgain). These devices can already carry our identity photographs, biometric details (facial characteristics, fingerprints, retinal patterns and DNA profiles), Social Security Numbers, bank account details, credit card details, credit records, club memberships, health records, academic and driving qualifications and any number of other facts about us.

RFID chips are also already in common use for unlocking access doors in secure installations such as banks and some government buildings and even for opening and starting some cars. They are cheaper and much more flexible than high security physical keys. In terms of flexibility they offer instant security in the event of loss and individual ability to be "locked out" without the need for a change in door hardware. They also offer far more options for checks on ownership.

One of the greatest concerns we currently face is Identity Theft. The theft of a Credit Card is a major inconvenience in our lives and yet only results in relatively minor hassles compared with a full out Identity Theft resulting in such lasting problems as, for example, altered Credit Scores. Yet the answers to securing all this data already exist. We persist in using a myriad of less secure systems for a variety of reasons, but mainly because the majority of people are unaware of what they could have if they understood what is available, the problems and insisted that their security be enhanced while improving their convenient access to all the data.

Data encryption and decryption are the key factors in personal data security. Modern cryptology has come up with several systems which are almost infallible. The almost in that statement is important as any system designed by humans will be open to human abuse. However the latest "Public Key Encryption" algorithms can reduce the opportunities to well below the risks involved in current bank card technologies while well-designed human interface procedures can reduce the chances of successful human abuse even further. Make it hard enough and of limited effectiveness and the rewards for such abuse become minimal.

So in the coming years it is reasonable to expect a movement towards the use of secure data cards becoming personal keys, all combined in one device. The level of personal convenience offered will be a significant improvement on today's plethora of plastic and paper cards and keys. Personal security will be improved as well.

This solution to identity theft has tremendous implications for security on a much wider scale too. While carrying such a form of ID will (and should) remain voluntary, the vast majority of honest citizens will end up carrying a unique proof of ID that will be enormously difficult and complex to either duplicate or forge. The wealth of personal information forms as complete a picture (figuratively and literally) as you care to imagine. During the Cold