Authenticating Transactions in the Future

You should totally take a look at this news article... Not only is it cool technology using Google Street View, but the YouTube video referenced the article is in slow Swedish with English subtitles! I think you will find this very interesting.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/bikearound-oshawa-1.4625642

That's really cool!!

Did you watch the video in Swedish? I found it very impactful.

I could catch most of it because of the subtitles

I figured you would enjoy that. I could tell that it was slow dialogue simply by the rhythm. I figured that you would be able to pick up what they were saying.

The slower rhythm certainly helped. And for the parts I didn't get, the subtitles jogged my memory

I'm glad I stumbled across that article.

I wonder if, in a future version, they will start using a VR headset instead.

That seems like a logical next step

Although I think it might be disorienting for a senior

I wonder if they were reluctant to use it initially, because the seniors would be less likely to adopt having a big thing strapped to their head.

In 40 years, when we are at that point in our lives, we will just be inside a hologram or something like that. What do you think?

We'll be in a virtual retirement home!

Imagine if there were a room in your apartment that would be designated as the caregiving room. In this room, everything would be copied over to a central unit. 

Or would be surveilled by robots, Who would immediately flag anything strange to the central unit.

We would all be wearing intelligent clothing that would constantly monitor our Vital Signs and send this information over to a database.

I tend to think that your phone will become your virtual care giver. Since it's in your presence all the time, it can monitor you in real time. But in the future, your phone won't be a device you carry, but rather a device implanted in you somewhere. Maybe an AI personal assistant

We should write an episode for Dark Mirror

I don't think there will be device-specific chips planted subcutaneously. The reason being, is that there would be too many chips and too many surgical interventions to insert and maintain them.

Perhaps instead we would have a generic chip inserted, and this could act as any number of devices. Including a cell phone.

We need a socket

You see that facetiously, however, I do believe that is coming. I believe in the movies they call it a bio port.

I'm not being facetious! I'm serious

Kind of like you upgrade your phone every couple of years, in the future, you would replace the device plugged into your socket

I know, exactly. That is why I am reluctant to go out quickly and get one of these subcutaneous implants. I don't like the idea of developing scar tissue for these devices.

I realize that they say that they are the size of a grain of rice right now. 

However, one of the more sophisticated devices could be the size of a dime, even a nickel.

You have the possibility to be tagged today??

I mean you personally

I know the tech exists...

There are already some night clubs that offer the subcutaneous implant as a way to not carry ID or money into the establishment. It is a size of a grain of rice.

I hadn't heard of that

Can you imagine if OC Transpo offer the possibility of a subcutaneous implant for the bus pass.

I've heard of it for secure access to buildings

Or if Apple Pay, or a similar technology, allowed you to pay with your forearm.

Can you imagine people being obliged to wear tin foil coats as a way to protect their information from getting swiped?

I agree, better to wait for a more integrated solution, instead of having a dozen grains of rice in your arms!

If I had even one such chip in my arm, I would be afraid to go to the movie theater. People would have hours of contact right beside you in order to usurp your information, or even your identity!

There would have to be a confirmation mechanism

Just reading it wouldn't be enough, you'd have to doe something to confirm the transaction

Sure, but what would that be? A PIN number? That hardly seems secure to me.

How about a combination of blinks and winks?

I emphatically agree that there would have to be a confirmation mechanism in place. Perhaps you would have to use your thumbprint to confirm? That seems pretty good.

No, winks and blinks would be easy to view and copy.

How about an interface to your brain so you have to consciously confirm it with a thought?

That is interesting too... However, I wonder if some groups would say that it wouldn't work (ethically speaking) if you had more than 0.08% blood alcohol.

This being said, drunk people are still able to use their credit cards right now...

I was going to raise that point, but you got there first

How about sub-vocalizing a PIN?

I also wonder if the brain patterns to listen for in order to receive the confirmation would not work if you were drunk because your brain uses different neural pathways.

We need a prototype!

Volunteers?

I wonder too if our brain evolves over time, and a neural pathway that works in your twenties would no longer work when in your forties.

Can you imagine if you have a concussion, and all of a sudden none of your confirmation patterns work anymore?

Kind of like loosing your phone today

I think I would allow well-paid volunteers from lower income bracket start off with testing this kind of Technology.

It is exactly like losing your phone, however, it's a lot harder to come back from such a loss.

You would have to reconfigure everything for your new brain patterns

Basically re-apply for lost ID

I bet that would cost a lot of money!

How do you feel about signing for a credit card transaction with your thumb print in a bio reader?

Or logging on to the network at work with your thumb print?

I've never done it, but it's not that different from paying for something by tapping your card

And if someone wanted to steal your identity, they would have to steal your thumb!

I feel it is a lot different than just tapping with a credit card, because you actually have to validate it. The thieves tapped with my credit card and bought things.

I think Biometrics is the way to go with secure transactions.

It's hard to believe that I actually have to sign credit card transactions here.

And I have to swipe my card because the chip is not supported.

But you'll need multiple points of reference for biometrics

Not just a thumb print

Why do you say that? I don't understand...

A combination of thumb print, retinal scan, voice pattern, etc...

When I call TD America, they no longer validate me because I allowed them to identify my voice patterns.

I think it is really cool!

Really? That is cool!

I hope that other services also adopt this technology. I think it is very effective.

But that's only a single reference point

TD Canada Trust does not support this. It is only TD America.

Well, when you're speaking to someone over the phone, what else could you do to validate them? I think the unique patterns of my voice are pretty effective.

This being said, I once fooled my sister's husband into thinking that I was her on the phone.

Perhaps I could do the same thing with TD America.

Voices can be simulated (or will be able to be)

Sure they can be simulated, however, could they be simulated well enough for the computer algorithm to be fooled?

If you have your voice, your thumb print and your retinal scan on file and you can supply 2 out of 3, then that's a more robust system of verification

Sure, but if you are speaking on the phone how do you give them your retinal scan information?

There would have to be multiple means of verification, some of which work over the phone,some in person. Kind of like 2 factor authentication

If they match your voice and your EMEI on your phone, maybe that's good enough

I think it is definitely better than asking me my mother's maiden name.

Or your birthdate

Nowadays, they sometimes ask you about previous transactions. I find that hard, because sometimes I cannot remember what my previous transactions are.

They also allow you to customze your questions a little. First pet's name, first street you lived on, etc...

They will say things like, on April 16th, what kind of transaction did you make? was it at an ATM or in a branch? How much money was it?

That's tough!

Some of the banks do not allow you to customize the questions anymore.

My bank limits the length of my password I use to log on

In fact, one of the bank's I deal with now did not even allow you to customize the answer. You had to choose the answer from a predetermined set.

A lot of places have password limits. I find that tough because I chose a password that was longer. So now, I have two sets of passwords. One longer set, and a shorter set depending on how long I am allowed to make it.

I have that problem too...

I also hate it when they force you to have a certain number of special characters. I don't feel that having a star or a dollar sign in my password is effective.

Makes it harder to remember I find