21 February, 2006
Foreshadowing the cards
Almost two years ago, I mentioned that Transport for London's 'Oyster' travelcard (aka 'ID card lite') scheme keeps a record of where each bearer has been, when, alongside personal identity and financial data. The Register now reports that the information is being used, both by the police and illicitly (not that I think the police should have access either).
A vulnerability is that anyone can view his/her own travel history via a ticket machine or web browser; anyone logging into the system as the cardholder (such as a spouse, never mind hackers) will therefore have access too. El Reg makes a good point about this facility:
Giving individuals access to their own journey data seems of doubtful utility, considering most of them will have a fair idea of where they've been, and you can probably view this feature as a marketing tool intended (as will be the case with respect to allowing individuals access to their National Identity Register entry) to give the user the erroneous impression that they are the ones controlling their own data.
Posted by Ministry at 13:03
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