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From: John on 22 Apr 2010 03:54
Graham. wrote:
> Alright, slight exaggeration. What did happen is the magnet in the
> Blackberry holster corrupted the mag-stripe on a hotel key-card. both
> were in my shirt pocket.
> Is this a well known problem?
>
> Am I right in thinking because key-cards are re-used, the data is more
> easily erased by a magnet than a credit card which is intended to be
> read-only?

It's quite normal (for hotel key-cards at least - dunno about credit/debit
cards) and when booking in at many hotels the receptionist will tell you not
to have it near a mobile phone for that very reason.


From: Graham. on 22 Apr 2010 04:56


"John" <none(a)inuse.com> wrote in message news:Toqdnfch2tBUnU3WnZ2dnUVZ8lCdnZ2d(a)bt.com...
> Graham. wrote:
>> Alright, slight exaggeration. What did happen is the magnet in the
>> Blackberry holster corrupted the mag-stripe on a hotel key-card. both
>> were in my shirt pocket.
>> Is this a well known problem?
>>
>> Am I right in thinking because key-cards are re-used, the data is more
>> easily erased by a magnet than a credit card which is intended to be
>> read-only?
>
> It's quite normal (for hotel key-cards at least - dunno about credit/debit cards) and when booking in at many hotels the
> receptionist will tell you not to have it near a mobile phone for that very reason.

Precisely what reason though?
A) Proximity to the perminant magnet in the holster/wallet thing.

B) Some idea that sufficient magnetic flux-density to damage a mag-stripe can
be produced from the phones transmitter (which will not happen).

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%


From: John on 22 Apr 2010 06:06
Graham. wrote:
> "John" <none(a)inuse.com> wrote in message
> news:Toqdnfch2tBUnU3WnZ2dnUVZ8lCdnZ2d(a)bt.com...
>> Graham. wrote:
>>> Alright, slight exaggeration. What did happen is the magnet in the
>>> Blackberry holster corrupted the mag-stripe on a hotel key-card.
>>> both were in my shirt pocket.
>>> Is this a well known problem?
>>>
>>> Am I right in thinking because key-cards are re-used, the data is
>>> more easily erased by a magnet than a credit card which is intended
>>> to be read-only?
>>
>> It's quite normal (for hotel key-cards at least - dunno about
>> credit/debit cards) and when booking in at many hotels the
>> receptionist will tell you not to have it near a mobile phone for
>> that very reason.
>
> Precisely what reason though?
> A) Proximity to the perminant magnet in the holster/wallet thing.

Well I don't have a holster/wallet thingy for my Nokia 6136 flip-phone and
it's happened to some hotel key-cards that I've had when I've forgotten to
keep the two things seperated, so my guess is (B).

> B) Some idea that sufficient magnetic flux-density to damage a
> mag-stripe can be produced from the phones transmitter (which will not
> happen).


From: Whiskers on 22 Apr 2010 07:15
On 2010-04-21, Graham. <me(a)privacy.net> wrote:
> Alright, slight exaggeration. What did happen is the magnet in the
> Blackberry holster corrupted the mag-stripe on a hotel key-card. both
> were in my shirt pocket.
>
> Is this a well known problem?
>
> Am I right in thinking because key-cards are re-used, the data is more
> easily erased by a magnet than a credit card which is intended to be
> read-only?

There is no such thing as a 'read only' magnetic record; they are all
vulnerable.

This sort of problem used to be common in the days of floppy discs and CRT
monitors; putting one too near the other could destroy data. I've heard
of the old-fashioned magnetic stripe credit cards being corrupted in the
same way, but modern 'chip and pin' cards should be more robust.

My mobile phone has a magnetic field that is strong enough to interfere
with a magnetic compass very noticeably over a distance of 2 or 3 inches,
and the magnetic fasteners on the holster (and many other bags etc) are
pretty powerful too. Audio speakers also contain strong magnets.

--
-- ^^^^^^^^^^
-- Whiskers
-- ~~~~~~~~~~
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