> I'm beginning to think that IBM had the right idea witht he thumbprint scanners in the laptops.
MythBusters looked at fingerprint scanners in episode 59, "Crimes and Myth-Demeanors 2". They were able to easily bypass both the cheap consumer models and an expensive professional one with advanced features that supposedly check for body heat and a pulse to make sure you aren't using a fake finger.
Another problem with biometrics: it allows unapproved sharing of identity information. If I use a fingerprint or iris scan or some such to identify myself to entity X and to entity Y, then even if I'm using different names with X and Y, they could compare biometric data and correlate my identities.
All they needed was a photocopy of your thumb-print that was licked, stuck to your thumb, and applied to the scanner. If it was 'warm' enough and had some kind of pulse, you were in.
The "Jell-O finger", made much the same way, using a standard electronic board etched to make an inverse thumb-print also worked freakishly well.
MythBusters looked at fingerprint scanners in episode 59, "Crimes and Myth-Demeanors 2". They were able to easily bypass both the cheap consumer models and an expensive professional one with advanced features that supposedly check for body heat and a pulse to make sure you aren't using a fake finger.
Another problem with biometrics: it allows unapproved sharing of identity information. If I use a fingerprint or iris scan or some such to identify myself to entity X and to entity Y, then even if I'm using different names with X and Y, they could compare biometric data and correlate my identities.