Now it is a tricky issue, keeping all your details secure online. There are passwords, numbers, memorable details and other things to remember.
Take the Abbey credit card as an example. To log onto the Internet based service, the user must provide: their 16 digit card number; an 8 digit security number (with no two numbers repeated sequentially); an 8 digit Internet ID; and just to make sure important transactions are safe, there is an additional 8 digit personal password to remember.
Now, one of the basic rules of passwords is to not write them down. But how is anyone supposed to remember all these without writing down at least some of them!
It must be up to the service provide to find the balance between data items that are knowable only to the person using the service, and data items that it is impossible of impractical to memorise.
And it is great to compare this with their telephone service, where to carry out the same transactions, all you need is your name, address, card number and date of birth...!
