Re:picture id's (Score 1)

The point of picture id's is not to create a foolproof system, that is not possible, it's just to make it reasonably hard to steal somebody's identity. Having to show up somewhere and have your id scrutinized is a lot harder for a thief than sitting in front of a computer somewhere in the world.

Being told to ignore the picture on a picture id but still require it sounds just a tad stupid to me. Bouncers compare pictures to faces every night with reasonable success. Same goes for the police during traffic stops. Of course I can't speak about the motivation and goals of the people who so instructed you.

As for the PayPal issue, I think you missed my point. You would be required to show up to open an account, that was the point of the first part of the post. The real benefit of the PayPal system is that you log in to authorize each individual payment, that way your card can't be charged by just anyone that happens to have come across the card number, thereby taking care of the "public secret" problem. The problem you describe would be taken care of by the showing up part.

As for those logins, a smart card of some variety with some sort of key would probably be a good idea. If your grandmother is able to do business online, I'm sure she could learn to deal with a keycard as well. Sometime in the past people didn't have locks on their houses/caves/huts/whatever, unfortunately it's necessary now, regardless of what grandmothers in the past felt. Just because your grandma might not like something doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. I still love my grandmothers...