VLT MAKER: ID CARDS NOT A PRIVACY RISK
Device to be piloted in N.S. communities
beginning in March

by James Keller

Video Lottery Terminal users worried about Big Brother watching them through new responsible gaming devices shouldn't worry, says the maker of the machines.

The device is a small console that plugs into the back of the VLT. Gamblers must insert a debit-like card into the machine and provide identification - either fingerprints or an identification code - before they can gamble.

The province will introduce them in one or more communities for a six- to eight-month pilot project to begin in March 2005.

John Xidos, president of Techlink Entertainment, which will make the devices, said any personal information will remain confidential.

"What we've done is make sure that the player always has anonymity," he said.

Mr. Xidos said there are two ways province could implement the technology.

The first option uses biometrics. Gamblers' fingerprints would link them with a card. The machine wouldn't store the fingerprint but would use it to create a unique encrypted code.

For the second option, players provide their date of birth and initials, which become an encrypted code.

In either case, Mr. Xidos said, there is no way for even the operators to retrieve the information once it is encrypted.

"You can't work backwards," he said.

"All we know is that you're at least 19 and you're a resident of Nova Scotia."

Mr. Xidos said he thinks the province will likely use both types of technology, allowing gamblers to choose, but Julia Watt, a spokeswoman with the Nova Scotia Gaming Corp., said the province hasn't made any decisions.

"We're still working out the parameters of the pilot study," said Ms. Watt. "But it will be in line with any privacy laws, that goes without saying."

Teresa Scassa, associate director of the Dalhousie University Law and Technology Institute, said the system doesn't appear to raise any major privacy concerns.

"In this case, they clearly seem to have thought through a lot of the concerns and a lot of the angles," said Ms. Scassa.

She said as long as the VLT user knows exactly what the information will be used for, it should fall within the bounds of provincial and federal privacy laws.

But she added that the use of biometric technology like fingerprinting raises larger issues.

"I have some concerns with this kind of collection and use of biometric information becoming routine," she said. "The next company that collects your fingerprint, for example, may not be collecting it properly or not protecting it."

Mr. Xidos said he thinks biometrics will eventually be the norm.

"Fairly soon, you won't be able to get on an airplane without using a finger scan or an eye retina scan," he said.