Identity, Security, Payments, Biometrics, Smart Cards and Authentication News

Japan uses smart card to curb underage smokers

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Japan has been using vending machines for years to enable citizens to buy anything from beer to underwear to fried food from a machine. Starting in 2008, machines will be require a smart card geared specifically toward tobacco sales. The Taspo, or “tobacco passport”, card will be required to purchase cigarettes with information about the owner, including age, on the contactless card.

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Global Industry Analysts Inc. released a report forecasting the outlook on the global smart card market to reach 10.9 billion units by 2015.

GIA credits the growth driven largely by major initiatives in the financial, government and security sectors, with the telecom sector at the way ahead of the pack as the largest end-user. Increasing usage of contactless technology, newer applications and mandatory EMV migration across countries are also major drivers boosting the global market for smart cards.

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Measures to ward off counterfeiting IDs have greatly increase over the last several years. States have added holograms, bar codes and other metrics to scare off counterfeiters who sell fake IDs to underage youth who want to hit the bars before they turn 21.

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Japanese mobile operator KDDI has announced that it will launch NFC-based commercial services with Japan Airlines, credit card issuers, retailers and loyalty program providers, reports NFC World.

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AuthenTec has announced that its AES850 smart fingerprint sensor has been integrated into a new Fujitsu smart phone, the REGZA Phone T-01D.

With AuthenTec’s AES850, the Android 2.3-based phone can be locked and unlocked via a quick scan of the user’s fingerprint. The sensor can also be used to control access to applications on the phone as well as provide greater security for NFC-enabled mobile payments.

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Just as the University of Georgia police were ending an investigation into a sophisticated fake ID ring, another student dealing in fake driver licenses came to light. The original ring, apparently run by students at the University of Georgia and Gainesville State College, had distributed more than 1,000 fake IDs to students at the two schools.

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Japan’s three main cell phone providers, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank, have joined forces to create the NFC Consortium in hopes of advancing Japan’s contactless payments platform toward international standards.

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