BBC NEWS - Foreign national ID card unveiled
The BBC reports: "The first identity cards from the government's controversial national scheme have been unveiled. The biometric card will be issued from November, initially to non-EU students and marriage visa holders. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the cards would allow people to 'easily and securely prove their identity'."

Press Release - Leading Online Credit Card Processing Provider Announces Multi Currency Processing
Press Release reports: "The online credit card processing system as perfected by Allied Wallet now offers credit card processing and settlement in JPY, EURO, GBP, CHF, CAD, AUD, USD and NZD besides other foreign currencies. [...] This step will make it very convenient for clients and consumers alike to transfer credit and settle currency across countries. No more dealing with the reductions and hassles usually associated with unwanted conversion fees."

Visa Plans To Let Phones Charge Your Purchases - Yahoo! News
NewsFactor reports: "In the not-too-distant future, Visa credit cards may merge with cell phones. The card giant announced Friday that it is developing applications for Google's Android operating system and upcoming Nokia smartphones."

Techdirt: Homeland Security Continues To Expand Border Searches: Now Can Copy Your Paper-Based Documents
Techdirt reports: "Now, the EFF has discovered, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, that it's not just computer data that DHS wants to copy. Last year, it quietly changed its policies to allow customs and border guards to read and copy any personal papers the traveler has, even without 'reasonable suspicion' or 'probable cause.'"

Comment: Is it reasonable to say that just by crossing a border and without any other probably cause, you open up your computer, phone, or PDA to a search by law enforcement? This does not seem reasonable to me. This is an important question because the law has always held the "reasonableness test" as an important test that establishes a benchmark of community standards. Let's hope a court somewhere will decide this practice violates that standard.

EBay phases out paper payments in US - DMNews
DMNews reports: "Ebay has said that, as of November, checks and money orders will no longer be allowed as payment methods on its site. US customers will have to pay for purchases with eBay's subsidiary PayPal; use a credit or debit card; use credit card processing service ProPay; or pay upon pickup."

Better Humans : New York offers RFID-embedded driver's licenses
Better Humans reports: "The State of New York has started offering driver's licenses embedded with RFID chips, or enhanced driver's licenses (EDLs). The news comes on the heels of New York becoming the second state to offer identification that can be shown at the border in lieu of a U.S. passport (which is also RFID-embedded)."

Barclaycard Invests In Contactless Payment Systems - Sky News
Sky News reports: "Contactless payment technology allows people to pay for items with the things they have with them, such as mobile phones, key fobs and even their eyes or fingerprints."

My Way News - New security database angers many in France
AP reports: "A new French security database that could track anyone deemed a 'possible threat to public order' - even minors as young as 13 - has outraged privacy crusaders and put France's conservative government on the defensive. [...] Judicial officials complain the new language defining how Edvige can be used is menacingly Orwellian."

Anti-terrorism laws used to spy on noisy children - Telegraph
The Telegraph reports: "The Act gives councils the right to place residents and businesses under surveillance, trace telephone and email accounts and even send staff on undercover missions."

My Way News - Old Web idea of micropayments finally finds a home
AP reports: "Online micropayments are nothing new. They emerged in the 1990s but never really caught on, in part because early attempts often had people spend tiny amounts of money - a dime here, a quarter there - instead of buying a bulk of credits up front and using them in bite-sized bits. Now when people buy virtual credits in larger increments and spend them over time, companies don't have to worry about the cost of using credit cards or other payment methods for the individual transactions."

ABC News: Is Google Turning Into Big Brother?
ABC News reports: "If Google pulls off this strategy, it will be the most valuable company on the planet. It will also be the scariest … and we should start worrying about that right now."

Comment: The thing that intrigues me about Google and it's potential in terms of the MOTB is the idea that Google wants to catalog and make searchable all the world's data, and eventually that will include every single human being. Can Google do that and still be true to their motto and not be evil?