The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Mark Hitchcock on Biometrics in a Cashless Society

Mark Hitchcock

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How do biometrics fit into a cashless society?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based his book Cashless: Bible Prophecy, Economic Chaos, and the Future Financial Order. It concerns the world presently teetering on financial chaos, global interdependency, and modern technology all converging in such a way that a cashless society and one-world economy are not only possible, but inevitable.

Biometrics in a Cashless Society

Dr. Hitchcock: The importance of biometrics, and I wrote a whole chapter on in my book, I think is ultimately heading us towards the time when people are going to buy everything with their cellphone. We’ll have radio frequency identification (RFID) encoded on a chip in our phones, and instead of having barcodes we are going to have RFID that will register what is being purchased so it can be automatically deducted. We won’t have to go up and swipe or anything as the transaction will just automatically happen.

Now, I could take your cellphone or you could take mine and go buy things with it, so there is going to have to be some way to prove that the telephone that you have belongs to the correct person using it. That is where biometrics come in. You will need to go up to a scanner and place your thumbprint on it. It can also be done with an iris scan.

Biometrics

Scanning can even be done with body odor as everyone has it, like your breath. Your body odor is unique. That is how really advanced this technology is. When you think about the technology that is out there today it is truly staggering!

What security will do with biometric technology is make sure that the person using the device is the person who is supposed to have it. So, all you will have to do is have your cellphone duplicate your thumbprint, your iris, or whatever. The seller will then know it is you who owns the cellphone. You can walk through with all the groceries or whatever you purchased and it will just immediately register all of it in your cellphone.

Nathan Jones: Biometrics are becoming more and more popular with laptops and security systems and data centers. High security areas have almost all gone biometric.

Dr. Hitchcock: Yes, so this whole growing boom that is out there in biometric technology is the wave of the future. Biometrics will appeal to us on how it simplifies life and how much easier it makes things. That is they way biometrics are going to be sold to people.

Dr. Reagan: Biometrics is another essential part of becoming a cashless society.

Let’s suppose everybody had to buy everything with a credit card. Well, credit cards can be stolen and credit cards can be lost. For security’s sake we’ve got to have some way to control that. Preventing theft or loss can naturally be done with fingerprints, irises, or maybe some device placed under the skin. I’ve read of some devices that can be embedded under the skin for when you walk into a room that makes the lights automatically come on and other things can happen.

Nathan Jones: What is beyond the cellphone, though, because really when you think about it a cellphone can be stolen? You could get a thumbprint of somebody else and then repurpose it. Biometrics are not a fool-proof system. Identities can be stolen right out of the databases, bypassing biometrics. What technology beyond the cellphone do you think the Antichrist might use?

Dr. Hitchcock: Well, I don’t know, and nobody knows for sure what will be out there in the future. We see an exponential growth in the way things are going, though.

One thing that is interesting to see are commercials on television which show someone like a herdsman over in the middle of Africa and they’ve got a cellphone. My question is, “Where did you get the reception? Where is the cell tower? Who are they talking to?!” And yet, cellphone connectivity is becoming available everywhere. Just two decades ago cellphones didn’t widely exist, and now everyone has one. Whatever will be the next great thing we maybe can’t envision, but it can be discerned.

Dr. Reagan: We already have what, like five hundred of more plus apps for every phone?

Dr. Hitchcock: Oh, yes, it’s incredible. I read the other day that there are two or three billion cellphones now that have been proliferating out there — unbelievable! So, there may be some newer technology that is coming very soon behind this.

Biometrics are a pretty failsafe technology. That adds to another advantage as to why biometrics are vital to the whole cashless system, in that while it doesn’t completely eliminate identity theft, it certainly reduces it greatly.

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Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

13 CommentsLeave a Comment

  • My concern with biometrics has NOTHING to do with the mark of the beast.

    First, I think we won't be here to have to deal with the issue. We will have been raptured.

    Second, I think the mark of the beast will likely be a visible, distinctive mark whose purpose is to show you worship the anti-christ and then therefore have a benefit of the ability to buy and sell in whatever way that will occur (cash, check, card, biometric, etc). The buying/selling is a secondary aspect of the mark. Acceptance of and worshiping the beast is the primary aspect.

    So my main concern with biometrics is how it may be used APART from the anti-christ. It is strictly a privacy/freedom issue for me.

  • one theory proposed by grant jeffrey is biometrics is not the mark but the chip or whatever will have the name or number added to it later. in order to recieve the additional digits you must swear allegiance to anti-christ and without it your chip will be deactivated.

  • Regardless of whether or not biometric chips are related to the beast there is NO way I'd ever accept anything so personally invasive.

  • really billy? got a cell phone? got a laptop? with a cell phone you ALREADY have something invasive. the government can listen in on any conversation, can tract you anywhere you go and much of what you do. if you use an atm debit/credit card they already know your buying habits.

  • I agree with Billy if by "personally invasive" he means a mark, chip or whatever is applied to or inserted in my body.

    Even though I believe I will be enjoying the wedding feast of the Lamb when the mark is required, I still wouldn't accept anything in or on my body now. (Just in case the mid trib or post trib folks turn out to be right)

  • Who here thinks Hartdawg should go into seminary instead of staying as a night janitor? (Not that being a janitor is bad, he just needs some encouragement to shake him of his doubts.)

  • Go for it, hart!!!

    Not to change the subject, but when I read this stuff and see the tech around me that definately will be used by AC to control the world, I'm reminded of my dad.

    I'm a Star Trek fan (Trekker not Trekkie), and I'm reminded of my dad saying one night as I was watching Star Trek (the original 1960's camp series) and him saying, "None of that's ever going to happen."

  • This subject scared the heck out of me back in 2007 when I learned of "Verichip" and "Digital Angel". The plan was to implant humans in the name of "safety".

    This was the press release that made me panic:

    11/15/2007
    VERICHIP CORPORATION AND DIGITAL ANGEL CORPORATION TO DISCLOSE ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON IMPLANTABLE RFID GLUCOSE-SENSING MICROCHIP FOR HUMANS ON DECEMBER 4TH AND 5TH IN NEW YORK

    To the best of my knowledge Digital Angel dropped it's plans to chip humans and currently only chips animals and objects.

    And since then I've calmed down because this idea hasn't caught on (in the U.S at least) and I think we will be raptured before chipping people happens in the U.S. (I hope).

    But it is worth keeping an eye on.

  • Hartdawg
    If Seminary is in your heart,NOW is the time to do it. IF you find it isn't for you after all, you have lost nothing but gained a greater understanding of The Word and increased your intellect with no harm done. To show an apptitude to study would stand you in good stead with any future employer.

    LIFE has a nasty habit of passing us by faster than the young can comprehend. Regret is a hard thing to live with.
    God bless your future.
    E.I.
    x

  • I have notice people all over Brasil and Argentina using what we call (money change cards). Those cards have a small ship that can communicate with any register device when you approach just few inches closer. When you do that you can be charged for your grocery shopping, bus tickets, subway, gas etc. These cards make life faster and cut companies costs.

    Down here for some reason we have a major problem related with lack of coins and small bills for change so these cards are crucial for companies that have low charge products and services such as transportation companies or stadiums. Hence those companies have been training and implementing this system systematically. That is why is very important to mention that the poor and very low educated people from these developing countries "the majority" are now already very familiarized with this system.

  • Filipe

    It makes me wonder WHY small currency is so hard to come by; as like as not, it’s a ploy to push for the more seemingly ‘accessible’ method of cashless. The people less likely to complain are those working hard to make ‘ends meet’ caring for their families with no energy, or the time needed, to be confrontational.

    Why am I not surprised?
    E.I.

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