Session Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 I've been searching the net for a legit ID scanner that I could use without having to purchase and carry around a bulky additional piece of equipment (the scanner) just to get it to work with an iPad. Is is possible to hack something like Square's credit card reader (or PayPal's) and get it to scan ID's instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr-Protocol Posted January 30, 2013 Share Posted January 30, 2013 If you are lucky enough to have the old square reader, then yes. I have two that I'm not willing to part with. Newer models and others encrypt them at the hardware level now before it even leaves the scanner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Session Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Where could I possibly purchase an old Square reader? I would only need one for prototype proof-of-concept purposes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr-Protocol Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 Find someone who has one that is willing to sell it. But knowing which one you are buying off ebay or whatever is hard. They are both the same size except for one is a little deeper, probably to hold the parts for the encryption circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Session Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 was the packaging different on the original Square card reader? Like, is this it? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Square-Card-Reader-/170981097629?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27cf44809d Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 In all honesty, you're better with a regular mag stripe reader, since some cards, have 3 tracks of data, and I'm not 100% positive on this, but I think the phone one only reads tracks 1 and 2. You could however, build a shim(scissors and cut off part of an old credit card) to insert and make the card taller, to get to track 3. Don't quote me on that though. Either way, USB card readers can be bad for like $10 on ebay and work on pretty much any pc with USB. If portable card cloning was your ideas, like say business key card entry for doors, or research in that area, building little arduino kits with lcds to read and store the data on a small micro usb might be suitable, or hack together something to work on a raspberry pi to pull card data, take home and decode later to clone, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Session Posted January 31, 2013 Author Share Posted January 31, 2013 Thanks for the suggestions digip, what I'm trying to do is create an ID scanner using an ipad instead of this clunky device. I'd be willing to pay someone that could help me do this. Or at least point me in the right direction. ​ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 To be honest, that looks smaller than an iPad and way cooler..lol. What is that thing? I see it says palm on it, so maybe an old scanning device and outdated(date says 5/9/07) but that looks way smaller and easier to hold than working with an ipad, but just my opinion. By the way, does the square work with iPads? I know they work with some smart phones and iPhones, but not sure if they have an app for every device and phone(so is why I am asking). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khaotic57 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 I have a card reader that I use for work and it does read I.D. 's it isnt really incrypted and you just need to write a program to sort it out. I dont know if it will work with a phone but you might be able to give it a try. They are availible on Amazon and it is called a Magtek card reader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murder_face Posted February 3, 2013 Share Posted February 3, 2013 Most magstripes store the data plain text, so sorting it out isn't that big of an issue. Just fire up a text editor then swipe the card. Back in another life I used to have a formula stored in excel that would automagically calculate the CVN on the back of a card, of course that was over 10 years ago and things change... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AayVy Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 you could maybe create your own program with this http://www.magtek.com/V2/products/secure-card-reader-authenticators/iDynamo.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler243 Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 To be honest, that looks smaller than an iPad and way cooler..lol. What is that thing? I see it says palm on it, so maybe an old scanning device and outdated(date says 5/9/07) but that looks way smaller and easier to hold than working with an ipad, but just my opinion. By the way, does the square work with iPads? I know they work with some smart phones and iPhones, but not sure if they have an app for every device and phone(so is why I am asking). The device in question is the Palm Z22. It actually is a pretty cool device, at least, for it's time. It's got InfraRed, Mini-USB, and a storage capacity that some modern calculators would put to shame! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.