Comments on: U.K. official: Fight online fraud with iPods

Agency tech head says it'd be cheaper to give each citizen an iPod for authentication than to issue ID cards.

[ralph240574]

stupid idea

This is one of the stupidest ideas I heard in a long time. Although I am an Ipod fan, why use this expensive device in the first place? Any cheap USB memory stick could store a digital certificate. Using Ipods or any other device also does not address the problem of identity theft. If your Ipod is your identity and everybody knows that, wouldn't that be an encouragement for stealing it?
Besides, I think Apple is already making enough money....

[dlee312]

Then...

Buy stock in them then.

[dlee312]

Ummm...

What happened to stealing someone's iPod BECAUSE it is the source of a person's identity? Identity thieves will now get an iPod on top of it all!

[joshhyde]

Replacement costs

Dumb idea. How much do you think it would cost to replace a card vs. an iPod? Way less.

[d2r4]

*knock knock* tounge-in-cheek!

Of course its a stupid idea! Maybe you missed the memo... this was suggested 'tounge-in-cheek' (a joke). Anyway I found it ironic, that an ipod would be a cheaper solution, though still not perfect. An ID card is no better, and an ipod is actually usefull.

[tipper_gore]

slow

Whatever -- I just wish these governments would do something, anything, to fix this gaping hole in their respective national security infrastructures.

[Andrew J Glina]

Odd

Very confused story, and an even more confused individual. As the story says...

The cost of issuing an ID card to every British citizen could rise to almost 500 pounds (about $884) per person, due to the cost of integrating the IT infrastructure with other government departments and public sector bodies, according to recent data from the London School of Economics.

The problem is not the card, but the system to manage the data on the card. Switching to an other device to store the key solves nothing.