Sorry. Can’t Buy A Soda and Nachos Here Without Your Fingerprint!

My concern is what do you do if your identity is stolen and he/she register his/her fingerprints before you do? What if the federal government goes to a biometric system as part of a national ID card, but someone using your identity beats you to the federal building? Are you now the imposter?

Ultimately, we need to go to a national ID card, but the government has only one chance to do it right. Otherwise, the system may be even worse than what we have now.

There is only one valid reason for citizens to submit to a national ID system and that is for identity security. Any other government rationale, such as stopping terrrorism or illegal immigration, should be met with alarm. Why? Because if the government’s focus is upon securing your identity, then you are the customer and there is a small chance that you will be treated as such. If, however, the government’s goal is to stop terrorism or illegal immigration, then you are a potential threat and will be treated accordingly by the system.

Wrong!!! The cashier does not need to know my identity. The cashier only needs to know that I am the legitimate user of the form of money that I tender. This does not require a national id. We have problems, not because we lack a national id but because the national id that exists has been wrongly used by the credit industry. Identity theft exists because coporations are more interested in getting your business than they are in protecting you. Keep your eyes on the true objective: Ensure that the money I tender can only be used in an authorized manner.

A national id system might seem to be cost effective, but it won’t be if it works badly. A truely cost effective method will be one that is easily replaced when it doesn’t work. This means avoiding some monolithic collosus to which everyone will ulitmately be a slave.

By the way: when will I be able to purchase insurance against severed fingers???

The headline is misleading. You don’t have to be fingerprinted to get money. By the way does Radio Shack still require customers to give their name and address when buying something?

#7, yes, probably, and yes.

#9. JimR, you are correct, any system can be hacked. Which is why I said that the government will have only one chance to do it right. (*sigh* And what are the chances of that happening?)

But the current system relies upon unprotected information such as your home address, birth date, and social security number. Which, apparently, is free game for any banking employee, government consultant, or HR rep to load onto their laptop and take home to be “stolen”.