Dear terpster-ga;
Thank you for allowing me to answer your interesting question. The
State of Missouri uses data technology known as PDF417 2-D Barcodes
provided by Dataintro Software S.L., a privately owned software
company based in Madrid, Spain, with offices in Carmichael,
California.
According to the Missouri Department of Revenue the 2D barcode on the
Missouri driver license ?contains all the text data from the front of
the license plus the four-character alpha country code?.
MISSOURI DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
?FEATURES OF NEW LICENSES?
http://www.dor.state.mo.us/mvdl/drivers/newlicense.pdf
According to this document the American Association of Motor Vehicles
Administrators confirms this:
?The AAMVA (American Association of Motor Vehicles Administrators) is
a group that has set standards that most states follow for their
driver?s license design and formats. PDF-417 is a 2 Dimensional
barcode that is able to encode a large amount of data including the
license holder?s address and date of birth among other things.?
CYCLONE -VERIFONE EASY-ID SCANNER
http://www.indatasys.com/brochures/Cyclone%20Verifone.pdf
This cached document from Scan Technology, Inc., a company that
manufacturers magstripe readers says, ?the magnetic stripe on the
Missouri Driver's License is not encoded?.
Cached document:
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:SmZ3ujthdTsJ:www.scantec.com/page/2-63.php+%22Missouri+Driver+License%22+ENCRYPTED&hl=en
In this article you will see that Missouri?s effort to transfer data
via this 2D barcode is not intended for encryption; rather it is meant
to provide a simple, fast means of transferring data verbatim from
card to form in an effort to streamline the clerical process of
filling out tax returns, ands other official state forms and thereby
eliminate data entry costs.
CLASSIC PLANET PDF
http://www.planetpdf.com/mainpage.asp?webpageid=3317
So, in answer to your question about encryption, let me explain it this way:
PDF417 is a two-dimensional, stacked, public-domain barcode developed
in 1990 by Symbol Technology. (PDF stands for ?Portable Data File.?).
Missouri uses a two-dimensional system. A one-dimensional bar codes
contain an access code that serves as a real-time key for opening a
database. In other words, a coded and scanned and compared against an
existing database. It there is a match the database downloads the
information to the scanner. In a two-dimensional system however, no
external database is needed. A scanner simply reads the data directly
from the card.
Now, it does take a special 2D reader to do this (if you want to refer
to that as being encrypted) because the information is only readable
via a proprietary ?reader?. Put more simply, the card only responds to
a reader that is designed specifically to read it. In reality however,
the 2D scanner simply reads the information that is directly on the
card, so technically, no, the card is not ?encrypted? using some
advanced technology that scrambles the data in the same way that, say,
your credit card might be encrypted.
I hope you find that my answer exceeds your expectations. If you have
any questions about my research please post a clarification request
prior to rating the answer. Otherwise I welcome your rating and your
final comments and I look forward to working with you again in the
near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad-ga ? Google Answers Researcher
OTHER INFORMATION SOURCES
BARCODE PDF417
http://www.tkb-4u.com/code/barcode/pdf417.php
SEARCH STRATEGY
SEARCH ENGINE USED:
Google ://www.google.com
SEARCH TERMS USED:
Missouri
Driver
License
Department of revenue
Encoded
Encrypted
Barcode
Magstripe
Data
PDF417 |
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