Strong-crypto smart cards in Singapore and Germany

[William H. Geiger III]

In <84936010217079 at cs26.cs.auckland.ac.nz>, on 12/01/96 
   at 02:21 AM, pgut001 at cs.auckland.ac.nz said:

>Wednesday's "Straits Times" contains two front-page articles on the 
>introduction of a CashCard which acts as an electronic wallet capable of 
>storing from $10-$200 ("Dr Hu launches cash-in-a-card payment system"),
>and an  identity card capable of Internet electronic transactions with
>(presumably  RSA) 1024-bit encryption ("50,000 to take part in electronic
>ID trials").  The  ID card can also be implemented as software on disk. 
>It appears to be purely  a form of storing an ID which is then
>transmitted in encrypted form.  The  CashCard, on the other hard, is an
>electronic wallet developed by a group of  Singapore banks.  There are no
>details on how it works, except that it doesn't  have any sort of
>protection - it's up to you to make sure the card isn't  stolen.
> 
>The standardisation committee of the German banks have also produced an 
>electronic wallet which should have 25 million (yes, 25M) users by
>January of  next year.  Again, this is a pure electronic wallet, with
>2-key triple DES and  768-bit (to become 1024-bit) RSA encryption.  The
>relevant standards are still  in the process of being translated, but
>should be available Real Soon Now (the  complete specification will be
>made public).  This looks like a very nice  system, and unlike Mondex
>doesn't rely entirely on the hope that criminals  can't get at the data
>on the card.
> 

<sigh> Big Brother comming to a bank near you.

Does anyone understand the implications of a society moving to an
electroinc cash based system??

All trasactions will be recorded, moitored, tracked & analysed. This is
not just the government that one has to worry about but corporations also.

Insurance industry:

- Gee Mr. Jones seems that you buy too much junk food & red meat. Our
actuaries say this makes you a "high risk".

- Gee Ms. Smith you speend too much money at the bars. Our actuaries say
you are a high risk for DUI & accidents. 

Company Employment:

- Gee Mr. Thompson you spend too much on beer & cigarettes. Oh yes we
don't like the magizines you read either.

IRS:

- Well, well, well Mr & Ms Washington our records show that you spent
$50,000 last year but only declaired $35,000 care to explain where the
extra money came from??

And the bueaty of this system is the crypto. Every transaction you make
has your crypto signature. No deniability. Your John Hancock on every pack
of ciggarettes, case of beer, every Playboy magizine, every book you buy,
any charities or political orginizations you contribute to. Every intamate
detail of your life in someones computer somewhere.


Ahhhh... What a Brave New World we are creating!

P.S. For those of you dreaming of anonymous e-cash & the crypto anarchy of
the future; do you really think the government & banking industries are
going to give up controll of the curency regardless of what for it takes? 


-- 
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"William H. Geiger III" <whgiii at amaranth.com>
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