Rick, I don't have any inside information here.
You have to visualize what this announcement is describing. It allows for a smart card, presumably with your name on it, to be mailed out just as credit cards with your name are mailed out -- except this one has an embedded chip and more potential functions.
Of course, it also has a self-contained scanner that becomes operational when employed together with a smart card reader. Since we are dealing with the future, I'll assume that your computer (or your thief's computer) will have a smart card reader. The credit card or other issuer will not have your fingerprint template pre-encoded on this card. After all, you haven't enrolled yet.
When you get this smart card, you would customize it as yours by embedding your finger template on it, as today you would sign the back of the card to prove ownership later. In tomorrow's internet world, this approach wouldn't even have the security of a signature check in today's person-to-person transaction. That's where the lack of protection against enrollment fraud occurs in this system.
On the other hand, maybe these smart card makers anticipate a trusted procedure for enrollment in front of a third party. In that case, I can't figure out why you need a self-authenticating card.
What's ridiculous? What do you think this product is? |
