* Forwarded (from: netmail) by Roy J. Tellason using timEd 1.10.y2k.



Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2003 11:57:59 -0700
From: john paulson 
Subject: Diebold voting machines

The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans
in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio
deliver its electoral votes to the President next year."
  http://www.cleveland.com/election/index.ssf?/base/news/106207171078040.xml

    Inspired by remotely triggered self-destructing chips, how about voting
    machines that can be remotely instructed to add and subtract votes?
    Well, you might say, why bother?  It can already be done locally!  PGN]



Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2003 11:36:12 -0400
From: George Mannes 
Subject: Bahrain's proposed smart ID cards

Bahrain Takes Swipe Into The Future With New Smart ID Cards, 26 Aug 2003, AP,
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=13900098

  Bahraini officials envision a photo ID card with a 64-kilobyte microchip
  holding the card holder's name, address, national identification number,
  digital fingerprints and driver's license, passport, medical, financial
  and educational data.  Users will be able to pay bills, withdraw cash,
  transfer money check their bank balances and conduct Internet transactions
  with a swipe of the card, and use the same card to votes in municipal and
  parliamentary elections.  "We truly believe that this is going to improve
  and change things dramatically," Sheik Ahmed bin Ateyatella Al Khalifa,
  undersecretary of the Central Informatic Organization, told reporters
  Tuesday.

Improve and change things dramatically for whom? The article -- which says
Bahrainis already used bar-coded ID cards for elections last October --
doesn't say. I'm guessing I'm not the only RISKS reader who'd be a tad
concerned about the RISKS of having all my personal, medical, financial,
educational -- and perhaps political-leanings -- data all in one convenient,
centrally informatic, location.



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