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Technology Stocks : Identix (IDNX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David who wrote (12225)	1/22/1999 11:18:00 AM
From: David	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 26039

The front page of today's Washington Post reports on a potential, privacy-invading competitor to IDX's hopes for the POS market. This startup has begun buying digital photographs from State DMVs in order to provide them at POS terminals to verify a buyer's identity: washingtonpost.com "Some critics worry that Image Data's plans will create a sense of unwanted surveillance for many people. Privacy activists fear that once photos are released by authorities in digital form, they will be used for other purposes by private detectives or telemarketers who want to match a face to other personal information. "'It contributes to an atmosphere where people feel they are being watched,'" said Robert Smith, publisher of the Privacy Journal. "'What you create is a mug file of law-abiding citizens.'" I'd say this system is akin to using a photograph, rather than a template, of a person's fingerprints, and taking them without their being voluntarily offered at the time of the transaction. Whether this helps poison the well against biometrics or makes fingerscanning look good by comparison, I don't know.