From: shamrock@netcom.com (Lucky Green)
Date: Fri, 22 Jul 94 19:14:13 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re:
Message-ID: <199407230214.TAA07850@netcom.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Conrad wrote:

>Could they write code that could fabricate notes from giberish?
>What if you encrypted a love letter and they 'decrypted' a drug deal?
>

That would be rather easy to acomplish with a secret algorithm. Still
possible, but not quite as easy with a published one. I am sure it will be
done.

>Also, on the national ID card issue, I was involved in bar codes
>(machine readable labels) and came across really small (grain of
>rice sized) transponders with ID number encoded. These could then be
>machine (transducer) readable. They were glass coated and had
>various industrial applications. I have since read that they have
>implanted them in pets to identify them if they run away. Next step
>would be implanting them in people. You would then have an absolute
>way to ID people (short of surgery).
>

I think this is the real problem that awaits us. While I do not believe
that society is quite ready for it to be broadly deployed, I think that it
inevitably will happen. First to monitor conviced criminals (to make sure
that rapist really stays away from schools), then children (in case they
get abduced), soon afterwards everyone else. And you know what? The public
will _ask_ for it.

Picture of happy shopper. "Citibank transducer (TM). Now nobody can use my
account without my knowledge and best of all -- I don't have to remember to
bring a card. I can't understand why not everyone is doing it." Jingle.


-- Lucky Green <shamrock@netcom.com>  PGP public key by finger