Destroying Credit Cards with Chips

monomer

When your old debit or credit card expires, I was traditionally told to cut the magnetic strip at least in half, try to destroy the signature and throw the pieces away into a few separate bins around the house. (You can never be too careful! )

As I was destroying my old card, I noticed that the chip on it was still intact. I'm wondering if anyone knows if there is any significant security risk in throwing away an intact chip? Can anyone read the chip and extract your details from it?

As a precaution, I still dismantled the chip - there's a small black wafer in the centre of the chip which snapped satisfyingly in two. It's dead now. I hope!

Clariman

I am not an expert, but I would have thought that the chip has all the important information on the card. I use a strong pair of scissors to cut through the chip. In addition to that I cut the magnetic strip and cut the credit card number itself. I then distribute around different bins.

Fedz

You did exactly what I used too do. A safer way is buy a shredder from somewhere like Stationary Box. Mine shreds vertical and horizontal and takes cards

Half the paperwork in our house disappeared. Filling up again though ... time for another shredding fit!

Kind regards

Smitty

Im even more obsessed when destroying my cards... I break them up by bending (cutting makes too cleaner cut - you dont want it to get stuck back together) I then throw a piece of it out my window (which i tidy up at a later date when in my garden), a piece goes in my suit pocket to be disposed of at work :-) And the rest is distributed around bins in my house

lol

robnye

yep....... i shred mine as well

THE_ROCK84

LOL you lot are boring!

I torch mine at 800 degrees C, with my dads butane flame burner that he uses for welding copper pipes in the back garden.
The card just turns into smoke, and travels to the heavens! :beer:

LOLOLOL :rotfl: :A :T :T :A :rotfl:

Smitty

:T Like it :dance:

carl310166

THE_ROCK84 wrote:

LOL you lot are boring!

I torch mine at 800 degrees C, with my dads butane flame burner that he uses for welding copper pipes in the back garden.
The card just turns into smoke, and travels to the heavens! :beer:

LOLOLOL :rotfl: :A :T :T :A :rotfl:

Yes,but is that enough......what if someone can read smoke signals ???

Didn't think of that did you???

THE_ROCK84

carl310166 wrote:

Yes,but is that enough......what if someone can read smoke signals ???

Didn't think of that did you???

lol. never thought of that. althought my dad drops his in pH 1 Acid NEAT (for industrial use) which is ususally diluted with to clean blockages in older copper pipes.

SIMPLE, AND EFFECTIVE. :beer:

carl310166

THE_ROCK84 wrote:

lol. never thought of that. althought my dad drops his in pH 1 Acid NEAT (for industrial use) which is ususally diluted with to clean blockages in older copper pipes.

SIMPLE, AND EFFECTIVE. :beer:

NOW your talking!

Rafter

Your all mad

Probably worth destroying the chip because it can tell you the card number which could then be written onto a magnetic stripe cloned card in theory.

However, the pin encoded on the chip is safe for now. The chip never reveals what the pin is, it just says 'yes' if the right pin is entered.

From my limited technical knowledge, snapping the black bit should do the job, although so will a flame thrower and shreader!!!!

R.