contactless barclaycard advertised on british TV !

This is the same RFID technology that we are all mostly familiar with by now and is becoming commonplace in our daily lives
RFID technology is fairly simple and often only carries basic information and usually works in conjunction with a data set of information that is directly accessed from an online database.
For this system to work as the banks predict they will have to be using our telephone lines as the main carrier which poses security issues.
For it to work as the article points out, there is going to be an extensive profile/s on every person who has one of these cards and all the goods that we purchase will be RFID TAGGED - everything will be tracked and the database obviously will have to be sophisticated enough to deal with all of this information.
Some tyre manufacturers have already tagged their car tyres in the name of marketing.

About 1 year ago I saw a program that had reservations re: the use of this type of technology.
A security expert was able to read an RFID card, that was designed to be read at less than 1/2 meter, but using an RFID reader he had purchased over the internet he read the card with the RFID chip at about 4 meters.
He was then able to duplicate the ID signal of the chip onto another card/chip and use it as his own.
He said that there are RFID readers available that can read at distances of 25-30 meters and that new passports that were recently issued in the UK were vulnerable to details being read for the purposes of identity theft.
The RFID technology is passive and depends on the strength of the signal being sent to it to determine the reciprocating broadcast signal strength and I am sure that much more sensitive equipment is available today that could pick up much weaker signals at greater distances.

VISA has been working on developing this technology for some time now so it comes as no real shock that it is being adopted along with the likes of walmart (asda in the UK)

So - is a cashless society is now in sight! the advertising I saw today says yes!
Perfect timing!!!!

I am not sure that it will be pushed just yet but the ground work is being set!
Once our biometric details are in the databases that are all linked together, we will not be the owners of our own identity and we will lose any semblance of privacy that we have now.



http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Technology/Barclaycard-Invests-In-Contactles...


"Plastic cards could become a thing of the past after Barclaycard announced it was investing a seven-figure sum in new ways to make payments.

Barclaycard as Oyster card

Is this the future of payment?

Contactless payment technology allows people to pay for items with the things they have with them, such as mobile phones, key fobs and even their eyes or fingerprints.

Barclaycard's OnePulse was launched in London last year with some 10,000 customers.

It enables people to buy items for less than £10 by touching their card against a sensor, without even having to take it out of their wallet.

It can also be used as an Oyster card on London public transport.

Barclaycard aims to have one million customers upgraded to OnePulse by the end of the year, with payment terminals introduced in 9,000 shops across the UK.

The group also carried out a recent trial with mobile phone operator O2 in which customers paid for items with their mobiles.

Mobile phone

Payment via your mobile phone?

Barclaycard said in the future people could be alerted to special offers in nearby shops through their mobiles.

Other ideas include enabling people to hover their mobile over the price label of an item in a shop and then add it to a virtual basket.

People would then be able to confirm their purchase and take it away without having to go to a checkout or get a receipt.

Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclaycard, said: ""The chips on credit cards now have incredible untapped capability, but the plastic around the chip limits its potential.

"Take the plastic away and the possibilities are endless.

"In time you won't have to carry a plastic credit card around with you if you don't want to, although some people will choose to for nostalgic reasons.""