Intel Says It Won't Track Individuals

Intel has denied that security it is building into future versions of its microprocessors will be used to track net usage.

But its denial follows a barrage of complaints from end users, and concern has also been expressed by US politicians.

Last September, we exclusively reported from the Intel Developer Forum that the company was building up to 10 primitives in a bid to make the market more secure for e-commerce. (Story: Intel makes bid to capture security lead)

At the time, Pat Gelsinger, Intel's general manager of platforms, said that individual signatures generated by different PC metrics, including vibration, would provide genuine random numbers. "Many security methods are ad hoc and incomplete," he said then. The methods would arrive this year, he said.

Intel is committed to making money out of e-commerce. Over the weekend, spokespersons from Intel in the US have claimed they cannot and will not use the information to trace individual accounts. ®

* Intel will today release its families of mobile PIIs, supported by a slate of OEMs. Look out for details here.

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Source: The Register

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