I was reminded again of the oncoming wave of stupidity when I was at the grocery store yesterday and saw the thumbprint reader at the checkout line.The idea is that you go to the customer service desk at Jewel, present them with your preferred shopper card and then they get you to provide a thumbprint. From then on, instead of having to carry your card on your keychain like a normal human being, you just do your shopping and thumbprint your way to health and happiness.
God forbid you have to carry a scrap of plastic the size of two postage stamps in order to save 10 cents on peas. What are we, Amish?
Exactly.
Plus, I could leave my wallet behind! (or so I'm told...)
The whole thing worries me on several levels, not the least of which is that I don't trust Jewel-Osco much, and by "much," I mean, "not at all."
My big concern is that if my identity is swiped today, I get some new account numbers, shut down a few credit cards and start the clean up process. Worst case, you have major problems with your social security number, but it's not like someone has access to a body part.
What happens if someone hacks your fingerprint? How do you reboot a hand?
This is all a moot point for me, as I spent five to ten minutes standing in line behind a woman who forgot her cash card and tied up everyone behind her as she left the store, headed to her car and took her sweet time wandering back in.
So for me, I can't imagine ever being in such a hurry that I'd a.) forget my wallet or b.) would need to leave Jewel 15 to 20 seconds faster than if I just used my check card.
Now, when Jewel develops the technology to implant a small transmitter in my forearm, we'll be talking. At least I can get rid of that with a cheese grater and some whiskey, right?
(Image from: Tattoo.about.com)
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