NationStates Jolt Archive

The Xanthalian Ministry of Economics announced today that it would be beginning distribution of a new device, the Personal Electronic Currency Exchanger (PECE, pronounced "piece") next year. The device and the system behind it have been in development for almost a decade in order to ensure perfect performance and security. Now they are finally ready for release. "Once the devices are distributed, Quinaults will be on the road to being a completely digital currency. The PECE is a revolution, almost totally secure from both physical and electronic theft. It will all but end counterfieting and embezzlement in our nation," said the Minister of Economics in the announcement.
The PECE is esentially an electronic wallet. Instead of bills and coins, the PECE holds one's "pocket money" electronically. When a purchase is made, the PECE is simply plugged into the cash register and the money transferred automatically. PECEs can also connect to one another for personal business transfers. Every PECE will come complete with a connectivity port, display screen, and identity verification technology. The system's hardware cannot recieve remote instruction, and all transfers must be verified by fingerprint/DNA and voice scan, making theft all but impossible unless the PECE's owner can be forced to comply with the offender. There are also a number of anti-counterfieting measures in the government's monitoring system that cannot be released at this time for security reasons. Those with questions and comments, both from within and without Xanthal, are welcomed to contact the Ministry of Economics for more information.

To: Xanthal
From: Fodmodmadtol

We would like to ask.. What is this currency backed by?

Ministry of Fodmodmadtol
Ministry of Finance
Minister Greedis Badfer Uo

To: Minister Greedis Badfer Uo
From: XME correspondence (Jarek Inuo)

Thank you for your question. The PECE currency (measured in Quinaults) is backed by the personal assets of the person or organization using the device, which is it turn backed by the equivalent net worth of the Xanthalian state and its assets. This obviously does not include any stolen or counterfieted currency, which will either be removed from the system or returned to its rightful owner, depending on the situation. Individual refund contracts in those situations must be worked out between the payer and payee. Currency transferred outside of the Xanthalian nation via PECE will be, as is all other international transfer of Xanthalian currency, highly regulated; but when such a transfer is made, electronic Quinaults will be fully convertible to other currencies free of surcharge at your local currency exchange.

1: What happens when one's PECE is stolen?

2: How tight is security? Can an expert hacker hack into the system?

3: Can the PECE administrators embezzle money from the system?

To: New Genoan office
From: XME correspondence (Ilino Oritek)

Thank you for contacting the Xanthalian Ministry of Economics. Theft of a PECE will be classified in the theft category, a class three offense in Xanthal. Punishment of the thief aside, a citizen who has had their PECE stolen (or loses it) will be able to pick up a new one at any MoE branch office or simply have one sent to them by MoE headquarters in New Krytan. Every cent on a PECE is tagged with a tracking number, not unlike serial numbers on bills and coins. As soon as the theft is reported, the stolen currency will be "blacklisted" and use of it will be impossible. The victim will be issued an equal amount on their new PECE as soon as they claim it.

The only "system" at large involving the PECE is a tracking system and a blacklist. This tells the system mainframes what currency tracking numbers are in service and instructs retailer computers and other PECEs not to accept blacklisted currency. This system is closed, unaccessible by remote. Blacklist and redlist (a currency tracking method I will not cover in this message) control is accessible only from Ministry of Justice branches, and the tracking system is accessible only from MoE headquarters, so that they may account for normal currency flow in and out of the system. There are three points which could pose risks under the correct circumstances, and are addressed as follows.

Risk 1: An unauthorized blacklisting.
Countermeasures: All officers with access to the system (ID verified by fingerprint/DNA and voice) are highly trained, regularly reviewed, and closely monitored. All blacklistings are reviewed by a random officer in another branch office, and blacklisting of large amounts of currency ($1,000 or more) must be confirmed by two officers.

Risk 2: Counterfieting.
Countermeasures: All tags are constantly monitored by the aforementioned tracking system. If unauthorized duplicate or new tags appear on the system, the transaction will be cancelled and the currency of the counterfieter refused. An alteration to the allowed tags can only be made at Ministry of Economics headquarters, and personnel with access to the system (ID verified by fingerprint/DNA and voice) are highly trained, regularly reviewed, and closely monitored. All new currency entering the system must be authorized by both the Minister of Economics himself and two other staff members with access to the system.

Risk 3: Embezzlement.
Countermeasures: The amount of each transaction must be approved by the PECE owner as noted above by fingerprint/DNA and voice identification, thus preventing most problems between PECE owners and retailers. While high-ranking and specially authorized Ministry of Economics personnel may transfer money without the said authorization through the closed system when the PECE is used at retail locations, that transfer's destination is always a MoE special account that cannot be drawn from. Also, to prevent economic terrorism in the unlikely event that an authorized staffmember is compromised, repeated transfers of the aforementioned type from one terminal will not be allowed. If one staffmember is found to be abusing their power, their access will be automatically revoked and supervising staff alerted.

I hope that I was able to adequately answer all of your questions. If you need clarification, or have any more questions or comments, feel free to contact me again.