Hands Down. Biometrics Aims to Make Your Life Easier.

It is amazing how quickly you get used to a car that starts as long as you have the key somewhere on your person. When you switch vehicles, it becomes a nuisance to fish the key out and insert it into the ignition. Biometrics aims to make it even easier. Why carry around a key (or an access card), if a computer can uniquely identify you?

Christians in Surigao refuse biometrics registration

More than 300 voters, all members of the religious sect Body of Christ in the remote village of Hamburger Hills, Barangay Gata, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur, have not submitted themselves to biometric registration with the Commission on Elections because their religious belief does not allow them to have their picture taken with their iris in direct contact with the camera.

Comelec’s provincial supervisor, lawyer Ernie Palanan, and San Agustin municipal election officer Evelyn Bato said the sect members, including their leader Nilo Rolloque, refused computer-generated procedures on their iris would mark it with “666.”

Tech Slave | Everykey Wants To Put Your Passwords On Your Wrist

The password as a digital authenticator is under more strain than ever. But is the answer to memorizing multiple complex secure passwords to rely on proximity and a physical wristband for logging in to devices and websites? The U.S.-based makers of a device called Everykey believe so.

They’re currently Kickstarting their wearable, looking to raise $100,000 to turn a prototype Bluetooth-powered authentication wristband into shipping product by March next year.

They’re not the only ones eyeing up the security potential of wearables either, with Apple’s forthcoming Watch apparently relying on a biometric heart rate for authentication when using its NFC-powered Apple Pay function. And Toronto-based startup Nymi also working on a heart-wave sensing authentication wearable. (We saw a demo of their wristband back in April.)

Everykey is following a similar wearable route to Nymi, with a basic wristband that has a single security-focused purpose, but is not bothering with any biometrics, which does mean you’re putting your passwords in a single unsecured physical basket (i.e. a form that can be stolen and used by someone else to log into your stuff).

Why is it avoiding any biometric component? Everykey CEO Chris Wentz expresses scepticism about acquiring accurate electrocardiogram data — as Nymi aims to do — via a single wearable point, i.e. rather than having multiple electrodes on the body. Hence Everykey staying away from biometrics.

It’s also aiming to undercut Nymi on price — given that there’s less sensor kit required inside its wristband it can offer the wearable at a lower price point. The Everykey is up for pre-order via Kickstarter for $50, vs Nymi costing $79. It also offers better battery life, of up to a month.

Wentz says it is expending effort on making it’s wristband look a bit more #FASHION than the average generic plastic bangle. Although, to my eye, there’s not a huge amount in it…

Source

Beast Tech | Transparent Electronic Tattoos Developed

The "miracle" material, graphene, has now been integrated into electronic tattoos. This has created a rather large advance in the science behind e-tattoos. It has increased functions the usefulness of the flexible tattoos.

Mark of the Beast | Barcelona's La Caixa to Offer a Payment Wristband

Back in June we reported that Barclays Bank was going to begin offering a new contactless payment system. They were going to offer a wristband that is wearable credit card. It would contain a chip with your banking information and near field communication. Now Spain's CaixaBank, is also going to be offering a payment wristband. CaixaBank is a large financial services company that is owned by La Caixa. A Catalan savings bank with headquarters in Barcelona, it is one of the largest banks in Europe. 

With wearable technology like this and other contactless payment schemes, it is easy to see that all the pieces are in place for the mark of the beast. If the wearable technology is replaced with a device attached to the hand or the forehead in a cashless society, then it will no longer be possible to buy or sell without it. Cashless technology, like biometrics, is sweeping the world.

It's in the Hand | Pay by swiping your hand: Quixter makes a splash at PayExpo

The rise of smartphones, cryptocurrencies and a host of other technologies has brought a vast amount of innovation to the world of payment systems.

However, a new product invented by Swedish engineer Fredrik Leifland, has made quite the splash at London's PayExpo conference.

Leifland's device turns the customers hand into a physical basis for payment. Forget contactless payments, Quixter uses a biometric identifier for payments.

Bank with the Beast | Barclays creates a new cashless way for customers to pay with a wristband holding their bank details

LEAVE your card, wallet or cash at home — wristbands are the latest way to pay. 

 

British financial services giant Barclays has created a new cashless way for customers to complete a transaction by wearing a wristband containing their bank details which can be scanned at the check-out.

The latest innovation is being trialled in the UK and follows a flock of others worldwide technologies to recently hit the global stage.

Biometrics, Marked for Life | Trinidad and Tobago to Mark the Children

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is going to be rolling out a scheme to biometrically mark all of their children for tracking purposes. The goal is to create a mapping system so that the location of every child on the island is known at all times. There is no information given about how or where the children will be marked, but it will be in such a way that their location will be tracked and mapped. 

That's right, they are going to force a mark on their small children. I am stunned.

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.         Matthew 18:6

One Number to Rule Them All | Bank Verification Number eases your burden of carrying documents

"And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead," Rev. 13:16

The burden of carrying driver’s license, international passport, national identity card, and other documentation that identifies you will be a thing of the past as soon as you get your Bank Verification Number (BVN).

"Even those who are not educated or who do not have identity cards to open accounts with the banks can do so seamlessly.

With Banks Verification Number you will not be burdened with the issue of fraud, identity theft and other financial crimes."

Worship of the Beast | Less Than Equal Access

Nepal is asking members of religious minorities (those who are not Hindu) who are registering for their National Identity Card to consider converting to Hinduism. Naturally, this has been criticized by both Christians and Muslims in Nepal. These cards are used to obtain government services, financial transactions, registering property and other normal activities. Those without the NID would have great difficulty participating in these activities. Those who do not declare a religion will be Hindu by default.

The Nepali government is putting obstructions in the way for anyone who does not declare themselves to be Hindu. This links the Nepali national ID and biometrics to religion and reminds us that in the Revelation given to John by Jesus, those who receive the mark of the beast also worship the image of the beast. There is no indication why the government finds it necessary to have a person's religion on the ID card.

Venezuela Fingerprints its Citizens to Buy Food

A Food Line in Venezuela

The country of Venezuela has made a major step toward restricting the purchase of food to only those who are biometrically registered with the state.  The government is saying that this biometric ration card is voluntary, but that is unlikely to be true.  The markets in Venezuela are government run.

Despite having considerable petroleum wealth, the economy of Venezuela is in rapid decline.  This has produced widespread protests which have been brutally repressed by the Maduro run government.  The Venezuelan government has killed, tortured and detained thousands of its citizens.  The Vatican has offered to mediate talks between the two sides.

Here's your SIgn. Church Offers Church offers tattoos to members as lesson in acceptance

You know you might be living in what the Bible refers to as the "End Times", when a "church" is no longer about observing the Old Testament Law, rather about mocking God, by twisting scripture taking those with no real biblical knowledge or foundation down a slippery slope of deception.

If your church talks you into getting a tattoo logo branded onto your skin, you just

 might be

able to be tricked into the mark of the beast...

Here's your sign.

CBN gives banks 18 months for customers’ biometric registration...Then What?

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given all banks 18 months to begin and conclude the biometric reg¬istration of all customers across the country.

The apex bank weekend launched the Bank Verifi¬cation Number (BVN) for biometrics identification of customers in the financial industry aimed at revolu¬tionising the payment sys¬tem in the country.

The Mark of the Beast. No Mark. No Food

AURANGABAD: After successfully introducing the thumb impression-based biometric public distribution system ( PDS) for foodgrain distribution in some fair price shops in the urban areas, the Aurangabad district collectorate will now replicate the system in villages.

Sanjeev Jadhavar, district supply officer (Aurangabad), on Saturday said the scheme would be soon introduced in 10 shops in Phulambri and five in Gangapur. "We are now looking at experimenting with select shops in the rural areas. And based on the results, we may introduce the system in all the 1,800 fair price shops in the district," he said, adding that the system will be introduced in the next 15-20 days.

In Aurangabad district, 200 shops come under the jurisdiction of the city limits and 1,600 are in the rural areas.

In August 2013, the district administration launched the first-of-its-kind system in three shops in the city. As part of the pilot project, the shopkeepers have been offering foodgrains to consumers only after confirming their identity and electronically registering the details of the transactions.

A Mumbai-based company has developed a special software for the system which creates a data bank of all the ration card holders. In the first transaction, the consumers have to register his/her thumb impression on an electronic device and furnish details. The information is being stored in a centralized data bank.

From the second transaction, the consumers will have to give thumb impressions and the system will display details of his/her foodgrain quota. The details can also be accessed from a centralized monitoring system. This will reduce chances of malpractices on the part of the fair price shopkeepers.

"It has been observed that all the ration card holders do not lift the quota of foodgrains, giving an opportunity to fair price shops to divert the remaining stock to the black market. It has also been found that the shopkeepers produce fake details of consumers to divert unclaimed foodgrains. However, the software maintains all the details leaving no scope for misuse," Jadhavar said.

He added that the district administration has provided a tab worth Rs 8,000, a thumb impression device that costs Rs 5,000 and a 3G internet connection to all three shopkeepers. They can download the software on a desktop, laptop or a smart phone and connect it with the thumb impression device.

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DigitalPersona Marks China's Billion Plus Population

DigitalPersona has announced that its TouchChip TCS1 sensor is the only silicon sensor used in fingerprint readers certified by the Ministry of Public Security under general technical requirements for fingerprint capture device GA / T 1011-2012 for the China Resident Identity Card.

DigitalPersona says: “Miaxis Biometrics Co Ltd and Shandong Synthesis Electronic Technology Co Ltd — both Chinese manufacturers — have leveraged DigitalPersona’s silicon sensor to meet the certification requirements while bringing speed and economy to the fingerprint capture process.”

2014, The Year of Enumeration and Encryption

Will 2014 see a big uptick in the use of biometric technologies, strong encryption, a rash of new key technologies and more? Some say that the era of having unencrypted data traffic flowing freely inside enterprises will likely soon come to a crashing halt, helped along by the US government, the Apple iPhone and other drivers.

Security experts at Unisys said that they are gearing up for the broad-based adoption of encryption, against the backdrop of disclosures that the US government may have accessed data from the internal networks of major ISPs.

“Regardless of what you might think of Edward Snowden, the government contractor who leaked secrets about US government surveillance, there is no denying that his disclosures have heightened awareness of cybersecurity all over the world,” said Dave Frymier, Unisys chief information security officer, in a statement. “Before that, many enterprises were running unencrypted data on their internal networks, which they believed were secure. Now they are beginning to use encryption internally as well, so we expect 2014 to be the year of encryption.”

NIN, The National ID Number of a Man

The National Identity Management Commission, NIMC has said that the Non- Intelligent 11 digits National Identification Number, NIN is what will genuinely reveal the identity of registrants at any point in time.

The NIN will be pulled and given to Nigerians and legal residents after successful enrollment.

The Director Corporate Communications of the Commission, Mr Okwudiafor Anthony, who revealed this further explained that the National Identity Management System is entirely different from mere Photo Card issuance that was carried out in previous schemes.

Peace and Security is now in the palm of your hand

A.T.M.’s in Japan require a palm print to access money, while the new iPhone available since September allows you to use a fingerprint sensor. Barclays in London requires a voice print. It is the age of biometrics and additional security for you in an age of high tech cybercrime, reports the N.Y. Times today.

These types of security systems have long been the province of border control, military surveillance and national intelligence. Now they are rapidly moving into the consumer mainstream to unlock laptops and smartphones or as a supplement to passwords at banks, hospitals and libraries.

But the technology also comes with a host of troublesome issues if it is abused or misused.

Read More

UN-Emirates Cooperate on Global ID

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the world's largest biometric database as part of its Emirates ID project.  Now the United Nations is coming to the UAE for its expertise in setting up a global biometric database. The apparent goal of the UN is to register every human on the face of the planet.

It’s Eida-UN deal in digital ID realm

ABU DHABI: The Emirates Identity Authority (Eida) and the United Nations have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at bolstering co-operation to develop the infrastructure of the Authority’s digital identity projects. It also aims at benefiting from the UAE’s experience in developing advanced identity programmes globally.

Under the MoU, Eida and the UN agreed to implement joint initiatives and projects in the field of sustainable development and boost knowledge society on the global level through organising international conferences and workshops and conducting specialised researches.

The MoU was signed on Thursday at the UN headquarters in New York in the presence of Dr. Eng. Ali Mohamed Al Khouri, Director-General of Eida and Vincenzo Aquaro, Chief of e-Government Branch of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (Undesa).

In his paper presented on the sidelines of the MoU signing, Dr Al Khouri reiterated the UAE’s prudent leadership’s quest to upgrade efficiency of its government sector and adopt the culture of excellence, pioneering and continuous development in order to boost the UAE’s global position.

He said that the UAE is determined to be one of the best countries in the world according to the UAE Vision 2021 and Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.

Dr Al Khouri said that the UAE government has set up a comprehensive and integrated vision aimed to develop the living and service systems of both Emiratis and residents.

It is diligently working to establish a sustainable development environment at all levels with people’s happiness and public welfare as its utmost priorities.

He underscored Eida’s keenness to represent the UAE in different international events and increase awareness of its successive achievements and to cooperate with various leading UN organisations in the field of advanced identity, government work development and scientific research.

The aim is to build a knowledge-based society and economy in the UAE which will contribute in reinforcing the UAE’s competitiveness and leadership in order to become ‘Number 1’ in all fields.

Dr Al Khouri gave a brief on Emirates ID Strategic Plan 2010-2013 and its new Plan 2014-2016, highlighting a number of projects carried out by the Authority particularly the ‘Digital Identity’ and ‘e-Link’ with government entities.

He explained the role the Population Register System plays in supporting decision making. Meanwhile, UN officials commended the UAE’s vision and praised its leadership’s boundless ambitions to develop the quality of living of its people and its quest to pioneer globally in all fields and in the eGovernment Index.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/nationgeneral/2013/October/nationgeneral_October217.xml&section=nationgeneral

We are Men, Not Animals

Feiglin on Biometrics: We are Men, Not Animals

Deputy Knesset Speaker Moshe Feiglin (Likud Beitanu) expressed his complete opposition to the idea of exchanging the ID card system we now have for a biometric ID – i.e., lo-jacking individuals.

According to Feiglin, this would be a monstrous blow to human rights and human freedom. We keep giving more power to the State, but the more power they are given can easily be corrupted. "We are not animals, but free men," Mr. Feiglin said.

“On the one hand, one needs to embrace the State.  But on the other, one must remember that some of the greatest crimes performed were by governments,” Feiglin commented.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/278018#.