Intel's new Pentium III chip, expected out later this quarter, includes a serial number that is accessible by software, such as browsers, when a user visits a site. Calif.-based Intel yielded just hours after the group announced its boycott. Banisar said the response was not a significant solution. To disable the technology, the control utility must be added to an operating system, he said. The technology is meant to help authenticate the identification of users to assure security in e-commerce, High said.
EPIC sees it differently.
A strong encryption product that scrambles data except for the intended receiver would be a better solution, Banisar said. But the United States limits encryption exports. High said the serial-number technology is not a substitute for encryption. Intel's chips provide hardware building-block technologies for encryption. It can be adjusted for stronger or weaker encryption software.