The Sword and Laser discussion

Is this the most disgusting payment method ever or is it just me? I usually hate carrying cash, but if I had to lick my thumb and put it everywhere I think I'd definitely go back to cash.
Am I missing something on the description?

Nope. But think about it in the context of all of the security breakins around credit cards lately. Target... 110m people compromised, etc. It's becoming clear that bits of plastic with a strip of mag tape that encodes information that is easily cloned simply aren't a sustainable payment method. Now, think about what's unique to YOU. Right, your DNA... so....

In GATTACA world everyone would have ultra-calloused fingers

Rick wrote: "Nope. But think about it in the context of all of the security breakins around credit cards lately. Target... 110m people compromised, etc. It's becoming clear that bits of plastic with a strip of ..."

DNA can be stolen as well. Someone could swipe a glass you were drinking from at a restaurant, attack you and prick you to steal your blood or shove a cotton swab in your mouth or something of that effect, steal your hair after a haircut... Not that you're wrong. DNA is safer in ways but it's is susceptible too.

not if you do things like check for life in the sample (some fingerprint ID sensors do this - they check for bloodflow in the capillaries, etc.)

It is kind of weird that a society where many people switch bodies at will would use biometrics as a security measure.

Yeah, very good point, you'd think they'd scan the cortical stack instead.

Joe Informatico wrote: "It is kind of weird that a society where many people switch bodies at will would use biometrics as a security measure."

That is a very good point.

Joe Informatico wrote: "It is kind of weird that a society where many people switch bodies at will would use biometrics as a security measure."

I think the idea is that most citizens have their current biometrics keyed to their cortical stack ID. Only criminals have more than one body at a time. It's extremely expensive to grow an adult clone, way too expensive to justify doing it to steal someone's identity.

Joanna wrote: "I think the idea is that most citizens have their current biometrics keyed to their cortical stack ID. Only criminals have more than one body at a time. It's extremely expensive to grow an adult clone, way too expensive to justify doing it to steal someone's identity."

I'm actually coming more from the perspective of convenience than identity theft. Like, if you're a Methuselah who rents several sleeves over the course of a month (which IIRC, isn't illegal as long you only inhabit one at a time), wouldn't it get irritating having to re-key your current sleeve's biometrics to your stack every single time? There are people in the real world who have to make an effort to make sure their wallet is in their current purse or pants pocket, and this seems less convenient.

Or even if you're lower socio-economic bracket, what if you're murdered and your insurance policy grants you a new sleeve, or if you're killed in a workplace accident and your compensation package/lawsuit nets you a new sleeve? If the cortical stack is the "real you", the legal individual, isn't it just simpler to scan the stack than to have to keep updating fingerprint records?

Andres wrote: "Is this the most disgusting payment method ever or is it just me? I usually hate carrying cash, but if I had to lick my thumb and put it everywhere I think I'd definitely go back to cash.
Am I miss..."

Agree. I heard Apple was pushing finger print ID and thought-
Pull the phone from your back pocket. Lick your thumb and...."
"Say what?"

I agree with a lot of the comments. Basing payment on one single biometric aspect, be it DNA or finger prints, is too open to bypassing by obtaining a sample from someone.

For iris scans I always think of the scene in Demolition Man where Wesley Snipes' character hacks out someone's eyeball to get past a scanner :).

I think multimodal biometrics might be a solution though - combining several types into one unique indicator which could be used to identify an individual. Once you start combining facial recognition, iris scans, DNA sequencing and vocal recognition it gets much harder to fake.