[PLUG-TALK] Identity checks

wes plug at the-wes.com
Sun Aug 9 05:51:27 UTC 2020


I think we would largely end up replacing old problems with new ones. Even
if perfect DNA detection technology existed, there would still be
competition among manufacturers to see who could make it the cheapest,
which means determining exactly how much inaccuracy they can get away with,
which means there will always be people who get a false reading. In the
best case, it'll just fail, and you can scan again and get logged in. In
the worst case, you'll be logged in as someone else, or someone else will
be identified as you.

Even if that weren't a problem, what happens if someone is able to grab a
sample of your DNA? Then they can log in as you to any system you have
access to.

And even if that were solved somehow, DNA itself is not as reliable as they
make it out to be. Samples taken from different parts of the body read
differently. Probably not differently enough that they could be confused
with a different person, but combine that with the inaccurate scanner issue
from above and.....

Plus: DNA changes as we age. And there are genetic diseases that alter DNA.
Nevermind forgetting an old password, how about making it completely
impossible to ever use again?

These are all just off the top of my head. I'm sure they'll be rendered
moot if given any serious thought at all, and also other, more difficult
challenges can be brought up and debated. It certainly is interesting to
think about.

-wes

On Sat, Aug 8, 2020 at 9:35 PM John Jason Jordan <johnxj at gmx.com> wrote:

> A common security problem is granting permission to people. I am
> thinking of a probably distant future in which identification can be
> made by checking the subject's DNA. Now, I know DNA is pretty complex,
> and I'm also aware that few of us possess copies of our own DNA. A
> world in which complete DNA is available for everyone, and which is
> therefore usable as a security check point, may not be terribly far in
> the future. My first computer (1973) had 64K RAM and dual 620K floppy
> drives. My current main computer has 32G RAM and multiple drives of
> 16TB each.
>
> How much RAM and related computer power might it take to get to a world
> where everyone's DNA is their password?
>
> Considering how often I am locked out because I can't remember my
> [expletive deleted] password, is this a good idea?
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