Identification in the Imperium

[Spinward Scout]

Looking through GURPS Traveller Far Trader, there's a big list of certifications and licenses. In Supplement 12: Forms and Charts, there's lots of forms and um... charts. When writing out Sir Dameon Toth I listed some possible IDs and came up with about 20 or so that he could possibly have - from Personal Information and Money, to Transport Operation Licenses, Employee Qualifications and Certifications, Weapon Authorization, to Ownership, and lastly, Membership in a Group or Service.

This leads me to wonder how all this is kept track of.

If I piled all of Sir Dameon's IDs together, he would have to lug a briefcase full of IDs from planet to planet. There has to be a better way. In the technologically advanced Imperium, these would all be digitized. For people that stay on one planet all of their lives, this would be simpler - it wouldn't be handled much different than we do now with Driver's Licenses and Passports. But for those of us that Travel...

IMPERIAL PERSONAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PIMS)

I suggest that the Imperium issues a PDA sized (or slightly smaller) ID system for those that Travel from star to star. An Imperial Personal Information Management System - PIMS for short. This would be bought/issued from your HomeWorld's Imperial Customs Office when you leave your HomeWorld for the first time. It would contain all of your VERFIED Personal Information, Monetary Information, Qualifications and Certifications, Ownership Authorization, and Membership and Services Information - and a record of the institutions that verified the information. The information would be stored in a holographic non-volatile memory with encryption. It would need some sort of power system. Unless... possibly the querying system could provide it power - every time your PIMS is queried for information, just enough power is beamed/transferred to the PIMS for that use. No worries about having to keep batteries in the thing, or having to recharge it that way. Every query of the PIMS would be recorded on the PIMS itself, and on the querying computer. Records of queries could be transmitted via X-Message to a central location - possibly a SubSector or Sector Capital or Domain Capital. Verification requests could be transmitted to any previous query locations, or the originating verifying location for each bit of information. Any discrepancies found could be reported to the authorities.

Let me know what you think,

Scout

Below are samples of information that could be stored in the PIMS:

PERSONAL INFORMATION
TAS Form 2: Personal Data and History
Birth Records
Previous Biometric Data
Current Biometric Data
Medical Examination and Inoculation
Previous Transit Credentials
Emergency Contact Information

MONETARY INFORMATION
Liquid Assets
Bank Storage Information
Credit Information
Stock Information

QUALIFICATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS
TAS Form 17: Mercenary Ticket
Previous Education Information
Patent of Nobility
Qualified Operator Certificate
Grav Vehicle Operator's Permit
Imperial Pilot Certification
Imperial Astrogator Certification
Imperial Engineer Certification
Assistant Engineer's License
Chief Engineer's License
Limited Mate's License
Unlimited Mate's License
Limited Master's License
Unlimited Master's License
Certified Medical Technician
Medical Doctor (M.D.)
Surgeon's License
Research Station Access Card
IISS Ship Operator's Permit
CargoMaster's Certificate
Basic HazMat Handler's Endorsement
Advanced HazMat Handler's Endorsement
Broker's License
Press ID - TAS News Service
Student Identification
Ship's Crew Identification
Employee Identification
Imperial Navy Department Personal Indentification
Imperial Army Department Personal Indentification
Imperial Marines Department Personal Indentification
IISS Identification Document
IISS Detached ID

OWNERSHIP AUTHORIZATION
TAS Form 3: Ship's Papers (Commercial)
TAS Form 42: Personal Arms License
Grav Vehicle Registration
Robot Owner Authorization
Animal Ownership Registration

MEMBERSHIP AND SERVICES
TAS Member Record
TAS Form 18: Repatriation Bond
Explorer's Guild Membership
Galactic Casualty and Life Insurance
Triple S - StarShip Service and Repair
Library Access Permission

 

[Malenfant]

Erm, you could easily just store all that data on a microchip* on an ID card, like we do today. No power sources or anything would be required - that's just for whatever is scanning the info.

*: And I mean a microchip (or at least, one of those silicon wafer thingies that are on european credit cards). They're relatively low tech, which means they can be manufactured anywhere from TL 7 to TL 15 according to a fixed standard, which means that any space-faring culture in the Imperium could use or manufacture them. Farting around with holographic technologies put these cards out of reach of the lower tech cultures, and is also largely unnecessary.

 

[RainOfSteel]

IMTU

The most advanced, and by GM fiat, unbeatable (if not tampered with) form of identification is Thought Printing.

A TL-15 innovation, based on advanced developments of NAS technology, Thought Printing is capable of 100% successful identification of an individual, even differentiating identical twins, or even clones.

Thought Printing is even capable of recognizing the partial remainder of an individual Thought-Print in the mind of a brain-damaged individual (there is a scale of the quality of partial Thought-Prints for use in legal proceedings, and a 90% match is frequently seen as the threshold for evidence in cases where brain damage is present). However, for purposes of security screening, it is considered the the best and the most secure.

The SPA charges a identification licesening fee of 100Cr to get a Thought-Print stored on file. It does not issue an ID Card, though, as it isn't necessary (just haul the individual over to a Thought-Print reader, and verify identity, no problem. The X-Boat network carries database replication updates across the worlds. Eventually, these updates overtake anyone (unless they've left the Imperium). Imperial Marshals spend quite a bit of time chasing down identity violations, usually at the contact point of the starport, where such violators wind up getting tagged.

Technically, it's possible to hack the central databases of Thought Prints, but that's a Formidable task, at best. And there are extensive ICE defenses, and check-backs (checking past archives to see if they match current data; it helps to find improper data that has been slipped in).

 

[mike wightman]

How would this stack up against the personality overlay device from Expedition to Zhodane that can even fool the Thought Police?

 

[RainOfSteel]

Sigg Oddra,

I don't have that adventure.

Any such device would amount to, as far as I'm concerned, a mind-transfer system. At this point, minds can be stored and transfered at will, in any medium, physical computers, biological brains, whatever.

I always thought TL-15 was too low for that in the context of the OTU.

Can you more fully explain the device from that adventure?

 

[Glen Allen Mcinnes]

Isn't Imperial ID coivered in the data libary some where i know it shows up in the GT data libary (saw it last night) but can't rember CT (my coppy was distoried by mum years [about 15]a go during an RPG is eveil scare) but havent had a chance to check MT sources yet?

 

[aramis]

I've always assumed that there is an Imperial ID of some form. IMTU, it's a credit card, with a TL15 encryptor chip. Part fo having a starport rating of D or better is buying an ID Authenticator... Which is about KCr1, 1 kg.

IMTU, most worlds will issue ID's as well. The ID includes a hologram of the individual, bonded to an extruded blank, which is foil coated and then laser etched to a uniform depth (I use a 0.1mm depth on a 0.3mm sheet), and sealed. Getting a new IID is REALLY a pain. The cover layers include the terminals, and the chip is set inside the blank... Overall, the thing is half a mm thick (similar to a CC), and provides an identifier number- the number tells, for an imperial subject, where and when born... and provides for estimates of day, hour, and unknown minutes. Also, the card carries some service data human readable (Service, years of service, maximum rank attained, current or exit rank, and exit type, plus SEH, MCG, and MCUF, and enlistment and discharge worlds). Likewise, it carries human readably the world of primary citizenship, and any local ID number assigned, and may carry up to three other worlds of citizenship. IMTU, there is a distinction between non-subject, subject, citizen and noble... so that is carried as well; for OTU games, it's either citizen or noble rank. Any medical allergies are also listed. The onboard data chip carries all the same data, plus full medical records, and authentification routines for all the carried data. The foil is transparent/translucent, so the underlying card pattern (which is done similar to Imperial Currency) can be seen by holding up to strong light; the text then shows the pattern brightly.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Ok, so, maybe PDA-sized is a little big. But I don't want it so small that it's easily lost. Something with a little weight, so that if it's not in your pocket or something, you'll know it. But it needs a lot of storage and some kind of encryption. Maybe something like the USB memory clips they sell now. Something with a bit of a hand grip.

Thanks for all the really great ideas!

Scout

 

[Vanguard]

A couple thoughts:

Traveller data storage is definitely sufficient to store all of the data you could ever want about a single person on a very small chip. The chip is small enough that it could be carried directly (don't lose it!), mounted to a more convenient storage device (a card for instance, or a piece of jewelry), or it could be implanted. The chips can be read by direct contact or wirelessly. The data stored on the chip can be queried, verified with other local databases, and displayed by a reader. If you like, the data on the chip can be encrypted with the user's biometric data (fingerprint, retina scan, DNA, etc) and a propriatary imperial code as the key. The user puts his chip within range of the wireless reader, gives the required bimetric data (looks at a camera, touches a fingerprint reader, etc), and the reader displays the info. A checksum system will ensure that the data hasn't been altered. Easy so far.

A big problem with this scheme is that backwater, technolgically backwards worlds won't have technology to manufacture ID readers. The very rich will be able to import them, but without a local computer network and vast amounts of storage there won't be any chance to verify the data on the chip.

My guess is that things would end up about like this:

The imperium would require all citizens who wish to leave their home planet to have an ID chip. The chip would be standardized, but the form factor it's carried in wouldn't need to be. Local govenments with sufficient technology will probably integrate their own ID systems with the Imperial ID chip. Local governments without that technology will have their own forms of ID, and citizens wishing to leave the planet will have to go to the imperial consulate/starport/whatever to have an ID chip issued based on their local government documentation.

Travellers will often carry portable readers (the size of a modern wallet) with a screen/speaker to read the IDs of others and to present their own documentation to people on worlds without readers of their own. It can also be used to store your ID chip (which is probably in a card form) when you're not using it, and perhaps a little cash if that's present in YTU.

It's not a perfect system, but it's about as good as I can come up with.

 

[Jame]

Wouldn't this IID be readable on a hand computer, then? Maybe like a dataclip which can be read by one, or put in yours if you come across someone without one (or indeed without any kind of computer)?

 

[Vanguard]

Yup, the wallet sized ID Reader I'm talking about would basically be a handcomp.

I agree that implantation is probably the best way to do it, but some societies who are afraid of Big Brother might not go for that. So you need other options too.

 

[aramis]

Glen:

Sure could... except in areas where the Society for the Sovereignty of Man over Machine (SSMM) holds popular sway... where in implanted chips cost you civil rights, you cyborg!

The imperium has it's lunatic fringe, and enough of them gather in one place to make a difference... (MT mentions the power of SSMM in Margaret's sphere... )

 

[womble]

Glen, from a metagaming point of view, do you want to run a police state where the citizens have little or no chance of escaping surveillance? A remotely-readable chip that you have to have with you the whole time would certainly predispose your game's Governments to exercising that level of control (if they have the systems, they'll tend to use 'em), or would indicate that the Governments are predisposed to exert that level of control over their subjects/citizens.

 

[Gaming Glen]

Now that I sat here thinking more about it...

Aren't we close to putting data on atoms? Or is that some fantasy put forth by dreamers?

If we can, this chip will be atomic in size, not microscopic. It might have to be big enough so it doesn't go floating off into the body. It will also be inert, so no energy readings to give away location. The scanner would have the power to either read directly or energize the chip to gain the data necessary.

No handcomps or id-card to be stolen, lost, or forgotten. Hand comps? That's so 1990s.

Think of normal everyday citizens, not some player character on the fringe of society or the law. The latter are the exception, not the rule.


Glen

 

[Vanguard]

I'm not sure if it's possible to put data ON an atom, but you could use an atom as a bit.

Consider a polymer molecule that is mostly the same, but can bond with either Sodium or Lithium. You could assign Na=0 and Li=1. Then, your string of molecules would represent some data. That's pretty similar to DNA, except DNA has more differences between the bits (they're distinct molecules that differ by more than one atom) and there are 4 "bits" instead of two.

But if you're going that far, why not just keep all the records in a planetary database. A person's data is keyed and accessed through their biometric information (fingerprint, iris scan, and/or DNA sequence) and a PIN or password. The most current info is then displayed on whatever computer was using the data.

If you've outrun your records, then nothing will show up. That's rare enough to not be a problem in most cases, and you can set up imperial law such that the records which are current on the planet you're on are the ones that legally apply. That solves some problems, but would probably create others.

For planets that don't have a central database, there would have to be one at the starport. Having other IDs (chips, molecular strings, whatever) wouldn't help the locals much since they wouldn't have the tech to read them anyway (without imports).

I'm not sure if this plan or my other plan would be better. Thoughts?

Now that I'm thinking about it, I think there was a description of an imperial ID somewhere in T4. Anyone care to dig it up? It's either in the equipment section of the main book or it's in CSC.

 

[SType]

The T4 rulebook, on p. 66 of the hardbound edition, describes the Universal ID which is ubiquitous at the beginning of the Third Imperium. It is essentially a "smart card" which stores biometric data and vital statistics in encrypted form. The encryption is updated approximatley daily, using an on-board clock and CPU.

The "Universal" is not required for most transactions--personal comms are used for the majority of identification needs. Where security is essential, however, a query is sent to the Office of Imperial Records, which sends its own query to the Universal of the person being identified. The OIR is able to decrypt the data on the Universal, thereby authenticating the holder's identity.

The Universal is provided by the Imperial government at no charge, but replacing a lost ID can be problematic.

The text does not say that the Universal has a built in communicator, so I am assuming it must be inserted into a smart card reader attached to a communications network. Such a reader evidently relays the query from the OIR to the Universal, and then relays the response of the Universal back to the OIR. The OIR seems to serve as a trusted third-party in the authentication process.

The OIR is not described, but it is clear that there must be OIR branch offices on every Imperial world, and that these offices are connected to whatever information net happens to exist on-planet.

This is the setup during the Milieu 0 time-frame, with a maximum Tech Level of 12. We can assume that the Universal conforms to a generally available Tech Level of 9-10. Since the 3I found the Universal to be useful as early as Year 0, this form of ID probably exists in all Imperial eras, with the physical form of the Universal changing as higher technology becomes more generally available.