# Codebreaking in Everyday Life

- Institution: Gresham College
- Speaker: Professor John D Barrow FRS
- Year: 2010
- Level: For everyone
- Language: English
- Subjects: Mathematics
- Source: [Gresham College](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/codebreaking-everyday-life)
- Licence: [Educational use (Gresham College's terms)](https://www.gresham.ac.uk/terms-and-conditions)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (sources give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the source's own words)

Everything we buy, from books to baked beans, has a product code printed on it. More sophisticated check-digit codes exist on official documents, bank notes and air tickets. What are they for and what do they mean? We take a look at the mathematical structure of these codes and explain their purposes. And in this age of boundless surveillance, are there enough numbers for each of us to have a serial number of our own?

## Lectures

1. [Codebreaking in Everyday Life](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/learn/gresham/codebreaking-everyday-life/d17afc7830fc) (YouTube)