Biometrics (was Re: Evaluating opinions ...)

[Jay R. Ashworth]

On Fri, Jun 04, 2004 at 11:37:09PM -0500, Mike Schwartz-PC Support & Services wrote:
> 	I will say that I am all for limiting the uses of a SS number.  For
> example, I got my pilots license in the 60's.  Circa 1980 or so, the FAA
> started issuing pilots licenses where the license number was the pilot's
> social security number.  Then they reversed themselves, and started
> reissuing all the licenses that had SS numbers on them, substituting unique
> numbers.  It's still not a foolproof system, but this makes it a little
> harder for an impostor to obtain computerized weather briefings and file
> flight plans under my name.  Surprisingly, they started reissuing licenses
> BEFORE 9/11, mostly due to complaints from pilots about possible identity
> theft.      

My friend Alan's private, issued in about 1997 or 98, uses his SSN as
it's ID number; I gather it wasn't optional (as opposed to Massacusetts
DL's where they *will* make you up a number if you hammer hard
enough...)  

The problem isn't that everyone uses it -- well, that *is* a problem,
but it's a *privacy* problem...  but the *authentication* problem is
that *anyone at all* uses the SSn as an authenticator "because everyone
keeps it a secret".

Can you say "a little bit pregnant"?  Anything researchable is an
invalid authenticator.

Cheers,
-- jr 'what's the best car ever made?' a
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth                                                jra at baylink.com
Designer                          Baylink                             RFC 2100
Ashworth & Associates        The Things I Think                        '87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA      http://baylink.pitas.com             +1 727 647 1274

        "They had engineers in my day, too."  -- Perry Vance Nelson