[Cialug] touch screen devices

[Dave Hala Jr]

On Thu, 2011-10-27 at 13:13 -0500, Tim Champion wrote:
> I've looked into things like this, and thinking about the level of
> security it brings.  I always make the devils-advocate argument that
> once a signature is captured electronically, and that signature is
> tied to one document, what is to prevent someone who has the skills
> and "rights" to the database from taking that stored image, and
> fraudulently applying it to another document that the person did not
> sign?

Its a good argument to make. I think its important to look at the
problem from a number of perspectives. Another view point may be to pick
a technology that is "good enough". An electronic signature that is
attached to a transaction is what is used for a credit card purchase.
Simple username/password authentication is what is used for  online
banking. In that context, those technologies are apparently "good
enough".

I like the idea of biometrics for authentication.  Have you found
something standards based that is reasonably priced, and runs on common
hardware?

Not to be cliche, but the paperless environment is going to be
disruptive -that means that in the beginning its only going to be
appropriate for a small niche and not perfect. In the context of your
environment we've come back to the question of which technology is good
enough?

> In thinking further, it should be that no 2 signature images are
> exactly alike, so it should be possible to compare the stored images
> and make sure that each image is only applied once -- using a unique
> key in a database for example? Can a BLOB (Binary Large OBject) be
> marked unique?  *ponders*

I wonder if a checksum of the image file would suffice. Document with a
electronic signature and a MD5 checksum.  If I understand the
facial/finger print recognition tech correctly, it plots a number of
points on an image, and then compares the plots.  I'd think you could do
something similar with a signature? Maybe not?

> 
> making a copy of an electronic signature is akin to forging a
> signature, I guess.  The other idea we are starting to look at is
> using facial recognition (from the camera on a tablet) to do things
> like taking attendance in a classroom - in our case...
> 
> The "original signature" issue is the #1 biggest hang-up for is in
> moving to a paperless environment, so this subject is of great
> interest to me.
Yes. I think its a cultural issue, but the old guard is starting to move
out of the workforce. I'm seeing a shift in the last couple of years.

> 
> Tim Champion
> timchampion at gmail.com
> 
> 
> On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 11:59 AM, Matthew Nuzum <newz at bearfruit.org>
> wrote:
>         I used a "Square" device that used signing with your
>         fingertip. It felt weird. It was a native app, not a web app
>         though.
>         
>         
>         It's possible to draw. For example, I just tested with Khan
>         Academy: if you go to the site and it's the mobile, hit the
>         button on the bottom to switch to desktop, then click to do a
>         practice, then click one (addition 1 for example) then hit
>         "Show scratchpad" and you can draw all you like. This must be
>         using Canvas.
>         
>         
>         I have no idea how you can submit it though. I don't know if
>         it's possible to grab the image data... (looking...)
>         
>         
>         Looks like, according to this you
>         can: http://www.nihilogic.dk/labs/canvas2image/
>         
>         
>         canvas.toDataUrl() base64 encodes the image as a png which you
>         should be able to send to the server using ajax.
>         
>         
>         Slick idea.
>         
>         
>         
>         On Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 11:32 AM, Dave Hala Jr
>         <dave at 58ghz.net> wrote:
>                 Has anyone done any signature capture with a
>                 touchscreen device such as
>                 an ipad or a smartphone from inside a web page?
>                 
>                 :) Dave
>                 
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>         
>         
>         -- 
>         Matthew Nuzum
>         newz2000 on freenode, skype, linkedin and twitter
>         
>         
>         
>         ♫ You're never fully dressed without a smile! ♫
>         
>         
>         
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