Smart Cards Can Protect Privacy, Strengthen Personal Identification Systems According to New Alliance White Paper

Smart Cards Can Protect Privacy, Strengthen Personal Identification Systems According to New Alliance White Paper

Princeton Junction, NJ, February 13, 2003–Smart cards can strengthen the security of personal identification systems and help to protect the privacy of individuals and the personal information they entrust to businesses and government agencies, according to a new Smart Card Alliance white paper released today.

“Individuals, businesses and government agencies all want better protection for individual identities and personal information. At the same time, our wired world opens possibilities for privacy abuse and identity fraud on an extraordinary scale, as the recent theft of tens of thousands of credit records vividly demonstrated. Smart card technology can solve these problems today, and our new white paper shows how,” said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the Alliance.

“Privacy and Secure Identification Systems: The Role of Smart Cards as a Privacy-Enabling Technology” examines the privacy and data security issues that must be considered when developing a system for individual identity verification. Clear guidelines to assist in designing processes and using smart cards in these systems provide practical steps any organization or system architect can put to immediate use.

“Smart cards provide a powerful tool for protecting an individual’s privacy,” said Robert Donelson, senior property manager of the Bureau of Land Management at the Department of Interior (DOI). “For those who have access to private information, smart cards ensure only legitimate users can access information, and they can only access the information they need to do a specific task. Other information that may be in the system can be kept confidential. Of course, privacy must be protected throughout the system, not just at the card level.”

The report, written for executives and managers, is available to both members and non-members at no charge at https://www.securetechalliance.org.

Alliance members from 19 organizations, both public and private, participated in the Secure Personal ID Task Force and were involved in the development of this white paper. Lead contributors included representatives from Atmel, Datakey, EDS, Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario, MasterCard International, SchlumbergerSema, Smart Commerce Inc., MGM Security Consulting and Wave Systems.

About the Smart Card Alliance

The Smart Card Alliance is a not-for-profit, multi-industry association working to accelerate the acceptance of smart card technology.

Through specific projects such as education programs, market research, advocacy, industry relations and open forums, the Alliance keeps its members connected to industry leaders and innovative thought. The Alliance is the single industry voice for smart cards, leading industry discussion on the impact and value of smart cards in the U.S.