“Auth Tag” – Mobile Microsoft Bar Code Tags Using a Smartphone To Scan for Two Factor Authentication Giving Users Digital Tokens

With all the recent security breach stories I though it was time to revisit and look at the use of bar codes for authentication. One item for the end user that is a winner is the use of your phone, in other words no need to carry around a separate device with you. It’s almost easier to watch the videos rather than to explain each function. The first video shows how the codes are used via the encrypted gateway for financial transactions, there’s no sound here so just watch and observe the motions. What I really like about the technology is the ease of use for the consumer, point and aim the the bar codes does the rest of the work for you.

Auth Tag Mobile authentication

Here is how Razcode works with HealthVault with entering information. You can see how point and aim is used to add information to your PHR. Also, while on the topic of HealthVault, it has just gone mobile and you can view more at the HeatlhVault blog for more information. You can also sign in with Facebook now too but I’ll pass on that for now since I just deactivated my profile for a while as it became too much of a disruption for the work I do and was just one more spot I had a difficult time keeping up with questions and so forth.

Health Jibe

Back in June of 2010 I wrote about the use of Microsoft Tags with an encrypted gateway to use for authenticating doctors for e-prescribing too. The post is a bit lengthy but there’s a lot of good information that is still relevant.

RAZCODE (Microsoft Tags) Using Smart Phones to authenticate MDs When e-Prescribing Controlled Substances

The Razcode technology has also evolved to work with PayPal by using PayPics so use PayPal and make purchases by authenticating you account. Its another way to further secure you authorization of payments. In the future we will start seeing bar codes as a way to pay for goods and your phone number and other information is not needed to go through the air for the transaction.

PayPics with Razcode

Here’s another video that shows how to connect a Withings Scale and connecting it to HealthVault. Once connected, all a consumer needs to do is step on the scale.

Health Jibe and Medical Devices

Some of the area below would be considered “hard hat” technology so if you are an end user, you can skip some of this.

f you want some additional information on what a RAZCODE is, you can visit the site here and read up. Razcodes are digital tokens encoded in a Microsoft Tag so we somewhat get away from passwords here for authentication.

You can also read up on OAUTH and how the cycle works. I first started covering some of this back in October of 2009.

THE BOTTOM LINE HERE WITH MICROSOFT TAGS IS THAT ONE TECHNOLOGY CAN BE A TECH CURE IN MANY AREA AND AGAIN THE SIMPLICTY FOR THE END USER IS THERE, LIKE MY OVER ALL CAMPAIGN FOR FDA RECALLS.

Tracking Medical Device Recalls – Sounds Like A Good Place for a Microsoft Tag Data Base at the FDA

Check out your next box of Wheaties and look for the Tag or in TV Guide to see what they look like in the grocery stores today.

On one more note, you can read how the technology could have saved a man’s life who died needlessly due to the hospital missing pulling the recalled device from inventory as published in Micro-Cap Review Magazine, a sponsor here at the Medical Quack and the related post at Microsoft about using Bar Codes/Microsoft Tags in Healthcare here. BD

Tab Could Boost Safety in Medical Industry

Micro-Cap FDA Recalls Never End

AuthTag turns the simple act of scanning a mobile tag with a smartphone into a powerful tool for two-factor authentication.
Now you can turn your smartphone into an authentication device without the need for specialized hardware or software. And no text messages or phone calls either!

You simply take a picture of a RAZCODE bar-code image, using the camera on a smartphone, to initiate the authentication process.

Leverages your existing mobile phone. No extra hardware or software to buy, deploy, and support.

Simple integration framework and API makes it easy for any enterprise, financial institution, or platform provider to implement AuthTag. User enrollment involves simply taking a picture of a RAZCODE bar-code image.