It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Google Checkout. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2011.

Google Wallet is a mobile payment system developed by Google that allows its users to store credit cards, loyalty cards, and gift cards among other things, as well as redeeming sales promotions on their mobile phone.^[1] Google Wallet uses near field communication to "make secure payments fast and convenient by simply tapping the phone on any PayPass-enabled terminal at checkout."

Google demonstrated the app at a press conference on May 26, 2011.^[2] The app was released on September 19, 2011.^[3]

The service will work with over 300,000 MasterCard PayPass merchant locations,^[4] with Visa licensing their Visa payWave system to Google for use in Wallet as of September 20, 2011.^[5]

Availability[link]

Initially, the only phone supported is Sprint's Nexus S 4G, but Google plans to produce NFC stickers associated with one credit card each, to be affixed to non-NFC-capable phones.^[6] Two methods for providing money to the service are advertised, Citi Mastercards and Google Prepaid Card, which can be loaded using any major credit card. During Google Wallet's unveiling at NYC headquarters, Google also touted the openness of their new system. Google said it will partner with all vendors of non-Android phones, including Apple, RIM, and Microsoft.^[7]

On December 6, Verizon announced it is not blocking Google Wallet on its Galaxy Nexus phones, despite rumors: "Google Wallet does not simply access the operating system and basic hardware of our phones like thousands of other applications. Instead, to work as designed by Google, Google Wallet must be integrated into a new, secure and proprietary hardware element in our phones." said a Verizon rep.^[8] This was believed true because Verizon plans to roll out its own payment system, ISIS, in partnership with AT&T and T-Mobile in 2012.^[9] As of April 2012 supported phones include the (Sprint) Google Nexus, LG Viper 4G LTE, LG Optimus Elite.^[10]

Partners[link]

A Google Wallet station at a Peet's Coffee

Google Wallet launch partners include Citi as the issuing bank, MasterCard as the initial payment network, and Sprint as the first mobile carrier.^[11] Merchants who accept Google Wallet include: American Eagle Outfitters, Bloomingdales, Foot Locker, Jamba Juice, Macy's, RadioShack, Subway, The Container Store, Toys "R" Us, and Walgreens.^[12]

In addition, Google Wallet works at other participating MasterCard PayPass merchants including 7-Eleven, Best Buy, BP, CVS Pharmacy, Dairy Queen, McDonald's, Office Max, Petco, Sports Authority, Sunoco, The Home Depot, Tim Hortons and other retailers.

NJ Transit also participates with Paypass and Google Wallet.

Business model[link]

Google won't charge users nor merchants for access to Wallet, and plans to make money by offering sponsored ads to their users. The new app Google Shopper^[13] will push two types of offers to a user's phone:

• Today's offers, which allows the user to see a single offer redeemable for discounted goods or services in their area.
• Nearby offers, which allows the user to see a list of offers in the 'Eat' and 'Play' categories that nearby businesses have submitted through Google Places.

The Google Wallet was designed as an "open" platform. Payment networks, carriers, and banks have been invited to join and participate in the system.^[14]

Security[link]

While a stolen debit card can be used in some circumstance without a personal identification number (PIN) or signature, the Google Wallet requires a PIN and has additional security:^{[15][16][17][18]}

• Google Wallet stores encrypted user information on a computer chip called the Secure Element.
• The Android device itself can be locked with a personal identification number (PIN).
• The Google Wallet app requires an additional PIN to activate the antenna of NFC chip.
• The Google Wallet device must touch or be in close proximity to a MasterCard PayPass reader.
• Once the transaction is completed, the antenna is turned off. Additional transactions require the PIN to be entered again.

The Secure Element only stores data and is required to open the Google Wallet app. The Secure Element memory is separate from the device memory. The chip is designed to only allow trusted programs on the Secure Element itself to access the payment credentials stored therein. The secure encryption technology of the credit card issuing institution protects your payment card credentials as they are transferred from the phone to the reader.^[17]

Security criticism[link]

An analysis by security company viaForensics revealed that some card information stored by Google Wallet is still accessible outside of the application. It is suggested that hackers could create a way to intercept data by eavesdropping on Google Analytics, which monitors apps used on the Android OS. A previous analysis by the same firm revealed a number of other exploits that have since been fixed.^[19]

PayPal lawsuit[link]

Shortly after launch, PayPal filed a lawsuit against Google and two former employees of PayPal – Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius. The complaint alleges “misappropriation of trade secrets” and “breach of fiduciary duty.” The lawsuit reveals that Google was negotiating with PayPal for two years to power payments on mobile devices. But just as the deal was about to be signed, Google backed off and instead hired the PayPal executive negotiating the deal, Bedier. The lawsuit notes that Bedier knew all of PayPal’s future plans for mobile payments, as well as an internal detailed analysis of Google’s weaknesses in the area. Not only that, it accuses him of storing “confidential information in locations such as his non-PayPal computers, non-PayPal e-mail account, and an account on the remote computing service called ‘Dropbox.’”^[20] It should be noted however that Google has run a competitor to PayPal, Google Checkout, since 2006, which was replaced with Google Wallet.

Privacy[link]

Privacy concerns include the storing of data regarding payment information, transaction details, payment attempts and other information stored by Google indefinitely. The Privacy Policy for Google Wallet indicates that much of the data is stored but may not be shared outside Google except under certain circumstances. The Privacy Policy also indicates that transaction details are not "currently" stored by Google, leaving speculation that users' transaction details may be stored at some point.^[21] The storage of such personal information about users' transactions is of significant financial value to a company that earns much of its revenue from data, but may be controversial to users aware of the policies.^[22]

See also[link]

• Google Checkout
• M-Pesa
• Near field communication (NFC)
• Osaifu-Keitai

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• FAQ

The word asshole, a variant of arsehole, which is still prevalent in British and Australian English, is a vulgar to describe the anus, often pejoratively used to refer to people.

History[link]

The word arse in English derives from the Germanic root *arsaz, which originated from the Proto-Indo-European root *ors — meaning buttocks or backside.^[1] The combined form arsehole is first attested from 1500 in its literal use to refer to the anus. The metaphorical use of the word to refer to the worst place in a region, e.g., "the arsehole of the world") is first attested in print in 1865; the use to refer to a contemptible person is first attested in 1933.^[2] In the ninth chapter of his 1945 autobiography, Black Boy, Richard Wright quotes a snippet of verse that uses the term: "All these white folks dressed so fine / Their ass-holes smell just like mine ...". Its first appearance as an insult term in a newspaper indexed by Google News is in 1965.^[3] As with other vulgarities, these uses of the word may have been common in oral speech for some time before their first print appearances. By the 1970s, Hustler magazine featured people they did not like as "Asshole of the Month."^[4] In 1972, Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers recorded his song "Pablo Picasso," which includes the line "Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole."

Until the early 1990s, the word was considered one of a number of words that could not be uttered on commercial television in the United States. Comedian Andrew Dice Clay caused a major shock when he uttered the word during a televised MTV awards show in 1989.^[5] However, there were PG-13 and R rated films in the 1980s that featured use of the word, such as the R-rated The Terminator (1984), the PG-13-rated National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), and the PG-rated Back to the Future (1985). By 1994, however, vulgarity had become more acceptable, and the word was featured in dialog on the long-running television series NYPD Blue, though it has yet to become anything close to commonplace on network TV. In some broadcast edits (such as the syndication airings of South Park), the word is partially bleeped out — ironically, as "assh—", with the profane half of the word intact.

Semantics[link]

The word is mainly used as a vulgarity, generally to describe people who are viewed as stupid or incompetent or detestable.^[6]

This word or its literal translation is found in colloquial speech in a number of cultures (in both English and other languages).^[7] This is because it describes an organ of elimination that is considered a taboo region (since it belongs to the intimate parts) of the body in many societies.^[8]

The English word ass (meaning donkey, a cognate of its zoological name Equus asinus) may also be used as a term of contempt, referring to a silly or stupid person. In the United States, and, to a lesser degree, in Canada, the words arse and ass have become synonymous; however, in the rest of the English-speaking world, ass still only refers to the donkey, rather than the arse (buttocks). It is worth noting that speakers of some varieties of English "drop their Rs" before consonants, leading to a pronunciation of arse that is quite similar to ass.^[9]

Political usage[link]

In 2000, during a Labor Day event, then candidate George W. Bush made an off-hand remark to his running mate, Dick Cheney, that New York Times reporter Adam Clymer was a "major league asshole." The gaffe was caught on microphone and led to a political advertisement chiding Bush for "using expletives ... in front of a crowd of families," produced for Democratic opponent Al Gore.^[10]

In February 2004, American media reported that during a rally of supporters, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called Bush "an asshole" for believing his aides in supporting a coup against Chavez in 2002.^[11] The word in the original Spanish was "pendejo", and in news coverage the word was widely, though incorrectly, translated as "asshole"; the meaning of the word varies substantially in Latin America, and in Venezuela its meaning is closer to "fool".^[12] The following year, in September, Nightline host Ted Koppel said to Chavez on national television, "I'm going to perhaps shock you a little, but these are your words. You called President Bush an asshole," to which Chavez replied, "I've said various things about him. I don't know if I actually used that word."^[13]

See also[link]

• Arse
• The No Asshole Rule
• Sexual Slang
• Profanity

References[link]