Time has come for smart cards
Published Monday March 23rd, 2009
There was a time not so long ago when New Brunswick prided itself on being on the leading edge of technology and innovation.
NBTel, the predecessor to Aliant and now Bell, was in the forefront of fibreoptics and laid the groundwork for the telecommunications explosion in this province more than 25 years ago. The New Brunswick government under Premier Frank McKenna made bold moves to position our province at the front of the pack, using what now seems like an outdated cliche -- the information super-highway -- to make N.B. an attractive place in which to do business.
There is a growing sense that we are sliding to the middle of the pack among Canadian provinces in these two crucial areas.
A good example is the hesitancy by Premier Shawn Graham and his government to be a leader in the development of so-called smart cards or enhanced driver's licences. The technology exists and has been embraced by other provinces and U.S. states, including Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, New York and Washington.
The importance of positioning New Brunswick with this technology is increasing, especially with the U.S. enforcing more stringent border crossing rules effective June 1. So many of our border communities rely on cross-border commerce and traffic each day that it will be onerous if everyone needs to produce a passport to simply shop in Calais or Houlton, Me.
Premier Graham has been saying for a few years that New Brunswick should have its own version of the enhanced driver's licence. But that's been it -- talk but little action. It now seems, based on the premier's comments in a news story published yesterday, that he favours an Atlantic regional approach to this issue.
We do not put much stock in privacy concerns with the smart card technology. A computer chip is embedded in the cards, but so much personal information is stored and shared across computer networks and on other cards -- credit cards, debit cards, etc. -- that any system built must surely have security that accompanies convenience.
We also don't subscribe to the rallying cry of Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe MP Brian Murphy, who suggests it is fine for New Brunswick to be third or fourth among Canadian provinces to adopt this technology. Moncton and Fredericton have been listed as two of the seven most intelligent cities on the planet. Smart card technology should not stump us. It's time to show some technological leadership.
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Credit cards and debit cards have a magnetic strip on them which is used by a card reader to get the information. You have to physically swipe these cards in a card reader to transfer any information.
RFID cards operate via very weak radio signals. You might recognize them from work if you work in an office building-- they are the cards you wave in front of a sensor to unlock doors. They work via proximity-- not by swiping the card.
Normally these cards need to be within a few centimeters of the reader for their information to be read. But it is possible for an unscrupulous person to use a device that can read these cards from many feet away.
Such a person would just have to sit down at a bench in the mall and wait for people to pass by in order to read the personal info stored on their driver's licenses.
They can be secured, but security is not an afterthought.
Let's get this right without rushing out to try to be first.