Your ID Please, Citizen

4. Smart card technology


With the addition of an integrated circuit microprocessor, the card can perform data manipulation and run cryptographic algorithms. The processor makes it possible to limit the amount of data any one official can access. For example, an ER

doctor could view medical information and enter data about treatment (if the card's data storage device is read-write capable), but could not see security-related data (such as a traveler's flight history, or a non-citizen's visa status) that an airport or INS official might require. But how secure are smart cards? Detailed instructional hacking sites can be found on the Web, many focusing on European cards. And

the more data on a card, the more valuable the card becomes to an identity thief.


5. Internal Memory Strip


Currently manufactured only by UltraCard of Los Gatos, California, this rewritable internal strip can store 20MB of data, roughly the capacity of 14 floppy disks-essentially giving the card a (tiny) hard drive. The capacity may soon grow by a

factor of 10, according to the manufacturer. A high-capacity device could store rich biometric data such as several fingerprints, iris scans, face scans, heartbeat characteristics, or DNA sequences. In a relatively simple application, law enforcement officials access the card data using a portable reader and match it to the biometrics of the

person presenting the card. Or an entry control system might be developed that automatically matches, for example, the iris scan on the card with the cardholder's iris.


6. 2-D Bar Code


This low-tech info coding could be used by officials who don't have more sophisticated optical reading devices. A big step up from the simple 20-byte-capacity bar code you see on cereal boxes, the 2-D bar code stores information in vertical and horizontal lines-up to 2KB or more of data, potentially including text, a photo, and a limited amount of biometrics. These bar codes are already used on driver's licenses in several states, generally to code the same information that's on the face of the card. The technology is virtually tamperproof. The main problem: relatively small capacity per inch of card real estate. Datastrip Inc. of Exton, Pennsylvania, says it can cram 2.8KB of data into a space the size of a conventional thin magnetic strip. The company also sells a portable reader with an integrated fingerprint identifier.