myerston@cts.sri.com (09/09/89)
I really like /bernie\'s idea for phone ID cards. However, it may not go
far enough!. How about a Universal Product Code tatto on the forehead (or
even better, a sub-cutaneous chip implant). Then anyone wanting to make a
call would simply scan themselves as a method of ID.
Later on this same Universal Phone ID could be your Bank ID, Drivers
License etc.
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[Moderator's Note: Suppose instead of a Universal Product Code we just use
everyone's Social Insecurity Number instead. Then instead of a unique pin,
everyone would have their very own sin. Your sin, (or sins, if you had more
than one) would be noted in all government records, credit bureau files,
telco records and telemarketing computers. Then to make a purchase or charge
a phone call or complain to some government agency you'd simply have to
confess your sin, so they could identify your account. If, as you suggest,
it was on a chip implanted in our brain, it would only be neccessary for
you to think about your sin while the authorities used probes they attached
to each side of your head. Cute. Big Brother's Telephone Company and
Credit Card Marketing Service, Inc. PT]