DIRECT DATA ENTRY 

DEVICES

Magnetic stripe readers:

So, you know how credit cards have that black line across the back of them and you swipe them
through a machine to pay for stuff? That line is a magnetic stripe and that machine is a magnetic
stripe reader. The stripe will contain data such as the account number of the card’s bank account,
the card’s expiry date etc.

Advantages:
 It’s a much faster method of entering data than manually typing it all in
 There is no risk of accidentally entering data incorrectly since there is no typing involved
 It is a very secure way of storing the data since it cannot be read without a magnetic stripe reader
(also there is no typing involved, so people cannot look over and see the information you are
entering)
 It can be used to prevent access to certain areas
 Things like oil and water cannot affect it so the data is well protected
 Since there are no moving parts, it is pretty robust
Disadvantages:
 If the stripe becomes damaged in any way, all of the data is lost
 The card needs to be close to the reader for it to work properly
 Contactless card readers:

Contactless cards allow data to be transferred without a PIN being entered. The way this works is
that the card has a small chip embedded in it that emits radio waves. When the card is close
enough to the terminal, it picks up the signals. It is often used for credit and debit cards but, for
security reasons, the person cannot pay for things over 25$

Advantages:
 Takes about half the time of a regular magnetic stripe system
 The system uses encryption to protect the data
 There is no risk of accidentally entering the wrong PIN since there is no typing involved
 It is much more secure as the card uses a unique transaction number instead of transferring the
account number
Disadvantages:
 They are more expensive than normal credit cards
 Someone with a proper reader can scan the card while standing behind you and then be able to
monitor the transaction
 If the person uses the card as a chip and PIN card, it runs the risk of taking the money out twice
because the machine will already have scanned it before the PIN is entered
 The transactions have a price limit that you cannot go over
 Chip and PIN readers:

The chip and PIN system is a relatively simple one. The card is entered into a slot in the reader,
the PIN is entered using the keypad on the reader, if the PIN is valid and everything else is OK
(i.e. the expiry date of the card, the balance in the customer’s bank account etc.) the transaction
goes through successfully

Advantages:
 It is a secure system as due to the PIN code
 It is more robust than a magnetic stripe as it does not have to be swiped every time it is used
Disadvantages:
 There is the risk of someone being able to look at and learn your PIN code while it is being
entered
 It takes much longer than a contactless card system
 Radio Frequency
Identification (RFID)readers:

RFID uses the same technology as contactless cards. They use radio waves to read information
that is stored on a tag. That information can be read from several metres away. The tag is made
up of two components, a microchip that stores and processes the information, and an antenna that
is used to receive and transmit the information.

Advantages:
 The tags can be read from a distance (better than a barcode system)
 It is pretty robust and reliable
 Can read the data quickly (generally less than 100 milliseconds)
 It can both read and write data
 It is more efficient because it is possible to detect multiple RFID tags at one
Disadvantages:
 There is the possibility of the signals of two or more tags interfering with each other. This is
called tag collision
 It is relatively easy to jam or interfere with the RFID radio waves
 It is easy to hack the signals
 It is much more expensive than a barcode system
 Magnetic Ink Character
Recognition (MICR) readers:

The way that these work is that letters and symbols are written in a specific magnetic ink. The
MICR device then interprets these letters and symbols and converts them into a form that the
computer can read. The computer than stores this data. They are quite often used on bank
cheques.

Advantages:
 They are more secure than OCR devices
 Since data does not need to be entered manually, there is less risk of the data being entered
incorrectly
 They can be read even if someone writes over them
Disadvantages:
 Only certain characters can be written that the device will be able to interpret
 Its more expensive than most direct data entry methods
 Optical Mark Recognition (OMR):

What an OMR device does is detect when a mark has been made using a pen or pencil and
records position of the mark on the connected computer system. They are most often used for
multiple choice exams or questionnaires because it is a much faster way of marking and
recording the results since the machine does it all for them and they don’t need to do it all
manually.

Advantages:
 It is a much faster method of recording data than doing it all manually
 Since data does not need to be entered manually, there is less risk of errors being made
 They are more accurate then OCR devices
Disadvantages:
 The forms need special designing to make sure that the marks can easily be read by the machine
 If the exam or questionnaire hasn’t been filled in properly, the machine won’t work
 Optical Character Recognition (OCR):

What an OCR device does is scans text from a document and converts it into computer-readble
text on the connected computer system. It is often used for processing passports and ID cards.

Advantages:
 Much faster than entering all the data manually
 Less risk of errors since no data is being entered manually
Disadvantages:
 The system cannot easily read handwriting
 It is not very accurate

Barcode readers:
 They read information from barcodes. You’ve probably seen them used in supermarkets or
libraries. There’s really nothing else to it. Fun fact: barcodes scanners scan the white parts and
not the black (that won’t be in the exam though…)

Advantages:
 It’s a lot faster than entering all the data manually
 There is less risk of errors since no data is being entered manually
Disadvantages:
 They’re relatively cheap
 The system can be fooled easily (the barcodes can easily be swapped)
 It’s less robust than an RFID system

Quick Response (QR) codes:

QR codes work similarly to barcodes, but are able to hold much more information. They are
scanned usually via a mobile phone using its camera. The QR code can take you to a website, it
can play audio, it may hold information for a company etc.

Advantages:
 There is no need for a person to have to write down information that can be saved to a QR code
 They are an effective way of advertising since the codes can be scanned easily on a phone