THE prospect of a European trade ban on Intel鈥檚 Pentium III processor came
closer last month. At the centre of the debate is a report by the European
Parliament鈥檚 Scientific and Technological Options and Assessment group. The
report threatens to ban the chip.
STOA is worried about the personal serial number (PSN) that Intel has built
into its PIII chips. So far only PIII chips have this number. Designed to make
e-commerce secure, the serial number could let other people monitor your
electronic transactions
(快猫短视频, 6 February, p 6). Civil
liberties campaigners felt that the FBI might snoop on people鈥檚 private
transactions.
Intel reacted to these concerns by turning off the PSN in Pentiums in March.
But STOA鈥檚 report argues that the PSN could be copied because the number is
buried in the chip. A cloned PSN would enable criminals, such as drug dealers,
to operate under someone else鈥檚 name.
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Caspar Bowden of the Foundation for Information Policy Research says the chip
is a threat to privacy. 鈥淲ithout prompt action from the European Parliament,
unique PSNs may become a de facto industry standard before proper consideration
can be given to the privacy risks,鈥� he says.