Skip to main content

Computed IDs and privacy implications

Thirty years ago, a lot of US states thought it would be a good idea to compute someone’s drivers license number (DLN) from their personal information [1]. In 1991, fifteen states simply used your Social Security Number as your DLN. Eleven other states computed DLNs by applying a hash function to personal information such as name, birth date, and sex. A few other states based DLNs in part but not entirely on personal information.

Presumably things have changed a lot since then. If you know of any states that still do this, please let me know in the comments. Even if states have stopped computing DLNs from personal data, I’m sure many organizations still compute IDs this way.

The article I stumbled on from 1991 gave no hint perhaps encoding personal information into an ID number could be a problem. And at the time it wasn’t as much of a problem as it would be now.

Why is it a problem if IDs are computed from personal data? People don’t realize what information they’re giving away. Maybe they would be willing to give someone their personal information, but not their DLN, or vice versa, not realizing that the two are equivalent. They also don’t realize what information about them someone may already have; a little bit more info may be all an attacker needs. And they don’t realize the potential consequences of their loss of privacy.

In some cases the hashing functions were complicated, but not too complicated to carry out by hand. And even if states were applying a cryptographic hash function, which they certainly were not, this would still be a problem for reasons explained here. If you have a database of personal information, say from voter registration records, you could compute the hash value of everyone in the state, or at least a large enough portion that you stand a good chance of being able to reverse a hashed value.

Related posts

[1] Joseph A. Gallian. Assigning Driver’s License Numbers. Mathematics Magazine, Vol. 64, No. 1 (Feb., 1991), pp. 13-22.



from John D. Cook https://ift.tt/2PHumIW
via IFTTT

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Solving Van der Pol equation with ivp_solve

Van der Pol’s differential equation is The equation describes a system with nonlinear damping, the degree of damping given by μ. If μ = 0 the system is linear and undamped, but for positive μ the system is nonlinear and damped. We will plot the phase portrait for the solution to Van der Pol’s equation in Python using SciPy’s new ODE solver ivp_solve . The function ivp_solve does not solve second-order systems of equations directly. It solves systems of first-order equations, but a second-order differential equation can be recast as a pair of first-order equations by introducing the first derivative as a new variable. Since y is the derivative of x , the phase portrait is just the plot of ( x , y ). If μ = 0, we have a simple harmonic oscillator and the phase portrait is simply a circle. For larger values of μ the solutions enter limiting cycles, but the cycles are more complicated than just circles. Here’s the Python code that made the plot. from scipy import linspace from ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lawyer: 'Socialite Grifter' Anna Sorokin 'Had To Do It Her Way' (And Steal $275,000)

Opening statements were made in the "Socialite Grifter" trial on Wednesday, and both sides provided extremely different reasons why Anna Sorokin allegedly scammed a number of people and institutions out of $275,000. [ more › ] Gothamist https://ift.tt/2HXgI0E March 29, 2019 at 12:33AM
Post a Comment
Read more

Photos: Miss Subways Crowned After Drinking A 'Vial Of Cuomo's Tears'

  After a particularly dramatic primary that focused a lot on NYC's (crumbling) mass transit , it was fitting that the new Miss Subways invoked Governor Cuomo—and his challenger after winning the title last night. [ more › ] Gothamist https://ift.tt/2R2bqmJ September 28, 2018 at 10:13PM
Post a Comment
Read more