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Implanting SSN | |||||||||||||||||
Social Security Number identifies every individual in the US uniquely. Everything about him, right from credit cards to driving history to his where abouts can be captured using his SSN No. How about a medical advancement of implanting a miniature card that holds the SSN No of that individual. Every store/ hotel / any business, would just have card readers installed that are wired to a central repository. This repository is more like the SSN database being maintained by the US government. This database would hold complete updated information about every individual like credit cards, address, employment details etc. There would no more be any billing counters. You walk into to a store, pick up stuff you want to, walk out of the store. Every exit would be equipped with a card reader that would read the bar codes of every item that you picked up (this system already exists). It would also read the SSN of the person holding the stuff he picked up. Connect to the central repository, extract his credit card number, validate and bill his card. In case of discrepancies like exceeding credit limit, error reading SSN a beeper would alert the buyer. In which case a customer service representative would attend to the individual. One cannot overlook the expenditure involved in a system like this. On one side, the medical costs of implanting a card like this and the other is the technical cost involved in developing and securing these systems. But at the end of the day you just cannot miss the comfort experienced. Few examples: § Walk into to a restaurant, waiter knows your preferences like: what location you choose, what are your favorite delicacies, wine etc.§ Get to a store, load up your shopping cart, and walk out.§ No more swiping of your badge or carrying another ID card to work. May be the system could advance more to enable Global Positioning System. Are we loosing privacy here? But I guess this would be at the discretion of an individual. This is my first posting. Please pour in your thoughts on this.
ingenious, Jan 07 2006
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I, for one, like not having the government know where I am every second of the day. Nor do I want every storefront on the face of the earth to have my credit card numbers as some shopkeeps are less than 100% upstanding.
Add in some biblical type predictions concerning the "mark of the beast" and I think you will find society in general will be very much against this idea.
What you advocate is a violation of the 1974 privacy act ."Your Papers Please Komrad"
The implanting thing is frightening and terrifying to me. I would NEVER trust the government with that, and neither should you!
Having a card or little key-chain thing filled with info from a variety of sources (controlled entirely by the user) would be a little more agreeable to myself.
Suppose for a moment that the patriot act is misused in the future and a very scary government system emerges. Suppose that you belong to a local shooting club with a website that voices concern about governmental policies. Disagreeing with and hating the way your government is operated could be misconstrued as disagreeing with and hating your country. The fact that you are armed now classifies you and your group as an armed terrorist cell and you could be hunted down and thrown into jail. What would you do then?