[XCSSA] OFF TOPIC: "Say No to Photo-ID" for Cred Card purchases...

[X-otic Computer Systems of San Antonio]

The thing I don't like is having to give my social security number.   
Now, thankfully, my health insurance card uses a "subscriber number/ 
group number" and not social security.  But nearly every health  
clinic still asks for it anyway, along with lots of other information  
you might not generally want known.  Even my eyeglass discount card  
requires I give my SSN.  When I'm looking at the frames, the  
salesperson shouts from across the room "what's your Social?" as if I  
wouldn't mind shouting it back across the room.  And now my Dental  
Plan uses the SSN as their only member number, no group number even.   
I'm not complaining too much, I feel lucky to have these plans.   
Maybe they use SSN to discourage people from using them.  Sometimes  
you can get a substitute number.  I haven't looked into that myself.

Of course, on your Texas DL, your SSN is encoded, along with other  
information, like your fingerprint, on the black magnetic strip.   
(I've heard it's not a good idea to try to get a Texas DL without  
showing your SSN, they might arrest you, it may be against some  
federal laws for them to require it, but they require it anyway.)

But usually when salespeople as to see your card, they usually just  
look at the picture.  Only rarely do they actually write down the  
Driver's License number (IIRC, BestBuy keys it in).  I don't recall  
it ever being swiped.

Long long ago (1991) I was traveling in UK.  At that time, I was  
following advice by some consumer "guru" NOT to sign your credit  
cards "to force merchants to ask for picture ID".  Well, at this one  
restaurant, they actually called the police because I had given them  
an unsigned card.  I managed to talk my way out of that one, lucky I  
had my passport too, and I've been signing my cards ever since.  I  
think that was about the time they started toughening up on that  
everywhere.  Sometime after that I simply forgot to sign a card and  
gave it to a US merchant.  They didn't (so far as I know) call the  
police but they did give me a very hard time.

It seems to me a "signature" isn't particularly good identification.   
I don't think I ever sign exactly the same way, and especially if  
it's on an uneven surface, or I'm using a lousy pen, or even one of  
those barely functioning electronic pads.  The primary value of a  
signature is that in court they can ask if it was you who made it,  
and if you lie then, it's perjury.

But I am very opposed to the concept of a "National ID Card", which I  
believe may already be in law but is working through the courts now.

And, there's also a new federal law that all animals be "chipped."   
It costs about $75, and they're starting with horses.  The chips  
don't actually help with theft at all, because they're re- 
programmable.  A thief could simply reprogram it.  One friend of  
mine, and future horse owner, thinks it's simply a form of  
extortion.  The money goes to some chip company, apparently friendly  
to some members of Congress.  And since it will ultimately apply to  
"free range" farm animals, such as chickens and cows, it will put the  
"organic" farmers out of business, but naturally, the big factory  
farms are exempt (they argue their animals can't get out anyway).  So  
naturally it was backed by factory farms also.  If they wanted to  
protect us from Mad Cow, they'd inspect all beef.  It's not  
impossible, the Japanese actually do that.

First, they started with the horses, ...

Charles


On Jan 31, 2008, at 4:06 PM, X-otic Computer Systems of San Antonio  
wrote:

> Sorry for the off topic post.. But I don't know how many times now  
> I've
> been "required" to show a photo ID when using my CC.. but I'm  
> really getting
> sick of it.  Your self validating signature (in person and on back  
> of the
> card) is all that is required legally by both Visa and Master Card*
> `