Only being able to operate your mobile phone after it has scanned your fingerprint is not a thing of science fiction. It’s an everyday reality for millions of mobile phone users, the greatest proportion of whom live in Asia.
But designing-in security to mobile phones can be difficult. PIN codes and passwords take too long to enter and users often disable them. Since everyone has a unique fingerprint, biometric technology companies have shown that security at the touch of a fingerprint can be an alternative for portable electronic products.
Pantech was the first to put fingerprint scanning technology on its GI100 mobile phone but phones aren’t the only application for biometrics. Medion gave its GoPal P4425 GPS extra security in 2007 with biometrics, and fingerprint scanners are embedded into hundreds of different laptop computers, PC keyboards, memory keys, computer mice, portable hard drives, password managers and other devices.
US consumers too are convinced that fingerprint sensors add value to devices through greater security, says Authentec, manufacturer of fingerprint scanners for 95% of the world’s biometric mobile phones. But in the UK, using people’s fingerprints as a security measure seems intrusive. BAA abandoned plans to fingerprint every passenger passing through Heathrow’s Terminal 5 after it was warned the move may breach data protection laws.
Authentec says the success or failure of fingerprint scanning technology depends on its application. Its 2008 Consumer Biometrics Survey of US men and women between the ages of 21–55 reveals that twothirds trust fingerprint biometrics more than traditional passwords but 67% have little awareness of the availability of consumer electronics that feature a fingerprint sensor.
In the UK, traditional security measures for money transactions, like passwords and PINs, have been done away with on one new product. 02, Transport for London
and BarclayCard have created the 02 wallet phone, a contactless payment system that allows customers to pay for goods by swiping their phone on a touch point, as you would an Oyster card. The phone uses near-field communications (NFC) technology that’s been around for some time but it doesn’t incorporate any security technologies even though it flouts some basic safety principles, like keeping your valuable items in separate places so that if a thief targets you it’s unlikely they’ll get everything.
Security at the touch of a fingerprint has potential to add value to devices like these. Fingerprints take less time to authenticate than passwords or PINs and save
customer time.
What do you think?
How can biometrics be designed in to products that appeal to UK consumers?
