çkard

Çkard is a term used in speculative design and techno-cultural discourse to refer to a class of compact, modular cards that blend hardware security with software-defined functionality. The word appears to be a coined blend, sometimes presented with Turkish orthography, but it does not denote a single, official standard or product.

In concept, a çkard may be physical or virtual, roughly card-sized, and imagined to incorporate a secure element or tamper-resistant hardware, along with interfaces such as NFC, USB, or software APIs. It is described as supporting programmable profiles, attestations, and secure key management, enabling use cases like authentication, payments, digital identity, or access control. Because there is no standardized specification, designs and features attributed to çkards vary widely across sources.

The concept commonly appears in late 2010s design fiction and academic writing as a boundary-pushing example of portable credentials and security-enabled interfaces. It is used to explore questions of privacy, interoperability, and user control within digital identity ecosystems, rather than to promote a concrete product.

Variants discussed in literature include physical çkard devices, virtual çkards embedded in mobile apps, or modular kits that allow users to customize features. See also smart card, secure element, hardware security module, digital identity, and personal data sovereignty.