Complicated language makes it more difficult to understand things. Because of this, we live in a less secure world than we did 30-40 years ago. Things seemed simpler then because they were.
When technology advances, you must first understand step one of that process before you can begin to understand the next step. Messages going through wires so you could hear people on a phone thousands of miles away sounded like a euphoric accomplishment when it spread throughout the world.
How many of us understood though how those voice messages went across all those lines and allowed you to speak over long distances with someone like they were right next to you? Not very many of us.
Try explaining the concept to someone. “Uh, oh, your voice goes through this wire and it comes out on the speaker on the other end.”
“You lost me. How do all those voices go over the wire at the same time, and each one remains separate and distinct?”
Certainly, an engineer could give you the complicated version. The point is, you have to understand that broad concept to get to the next level of telecommunications, which is wireless, and have even the most miniscule ability to comprehend how that happens and be able to share that with someone else.
So we walk around our lives today using technology that baffles us. We accept that it works. We love that it allows us to reach out, but don’t ask us to fix it when something goes wrong, or help someone understand the complex details of its operation.
This is part of the reason so many people are frustrated in the modern world. They don’t know how the instruments they use actually work.
Similarly, we feel less secure when we are unable to understand the ways people can steal financial data from us or our identities. The Target retail mess over the holidays is the most visible recent example on how information can be stolen about individuals and then used without their knowledge. If we could know how this type of data gets stolen, we can prevent it and feel protected.
The iPhone had a recent security scare, and Loop, a Boston-based company, announced that it thought it had a solution. According to a news account, the company announced a solution, its “LoopWallet app for storing magnetic-stripe cards in encrypted form on a smart phone and then transmitting this information to a standard POS device in a contactless transaction.” Take a deep breath. Now breathe.
Okay, now let’s dissect this sentence and see if we can figure it out. “LoopWallet” is a smart phone application (app). I think most of us have got this figured except for those living on Planet Claire.
“Magnetic-stripe cards in encrypted form on a smart phone” is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card. This gets formatted in a way so no one understands it (encrypted), then stored on the smart phone.
A “standard POS device” is a Point-of-Sale device to take your swiped transaction in a purchasing environment. Whew, I knew that one and didn’t have to go to Wikipedia.
“Contactless transactions” are basically credit cards, debit cards, key fobs, smartcards or other devices that use radio-frequency identification for making secure payments. I pretty much knew this one, too, but threw in RIF to confuse you.
Okay, are you now fully befuddled? How can that be, since everything was just explained?
Here you go. It means they protect data on your smart phone. Done. End of story.
Language is used to make us less secure. Don’t let it happen.
When technology advances, you must first understand step one of that process before you can begin to understand the next step. Messages going through wires so you could hear people on a phone thousands of miles away sounded like a euphoric accomplishment when it spread throughout the world.
How many of us understood though how those voice messages went across all those lines and allowed you to speak over long distances with someone like they were right next to you? Not very many of us.
Try explaining the concept to someone. “Uh, oh, your voice goes through this wire and it comes out on the speaker on the other end.”
“You lost me. How do all those voices go over the wire at the same time, and each one remains separate and distinct?”
Certainly, an engineer could give you the complicated version. The point is, you have to understand that broad concept to get to the next level of telecommunications, which is wireless, and have even the most miniscule ability to comprehend how that happens and be able to share that with someone else.
So we walk around our lives today using technology that baffles us. We accept that it works. We love that it allows us to reach out, but don’t ask us to fix it when something goes wrong, or help someone understand the complex details of its operation.
This is part of the reason so many people are frustrated in the modern world. They don’t know how the instruments they use actually work.
Similarly, we feel less secure when we are unable to understand the ways people can steal financial data from us or our identities. The Target retail mess over the holidays is the most visible recent example on how information can be stolen about individuals and then used without their knowledge. If we could know how this type of data gets stolen, we can prevent it and feel protected.
The iPhone had a recent security scare, and Loop, a Boston-based company, announced that it thought it had a solution. According to a news account, the company announced a solution, its “LoopWallet app for storing magnetic-stripe cards in encrypted form on a smart phone and then transmitting this information to a standard POS device in a contactless transaction.” Take a deep breath. Now breathe.
Okay, now let’s dissect this sentence and see if we can figure it out. “LoopWallet” is a smart phone application (app). I think most of us have got this figured except for those living on Planet Claire.
“Magnetic-stripe cards in encrypted form on a smart phone” is a type of card capable of storing data by modifying the magnetism of tiny iron-based magnetic particles on a band of magnetic material on the card. This gets formatted in a way so no one understands it (encrypted), then stored on the smart phone.
A “standard POS device” is a Point-of-Sale device to take your swiped transaction in a purchasing environment. Whew, I knew that one and didn’t have to go to Wikipedia.
“Contactless transactions” are basically credit cards, debit cards, key fobs, smartcards or other devices that use radio-frequency identification for making secure payments. I pretty much knew this one, too, but threw in RIF to confuse you.
Okay, are you now fully befuddled? How can that be, since everything was just explained?
Here you go. It means they protect data on your smart phone. Done. End of story.
Language is used to make us less secure. Don’t let it happen.