Look Ma, no fingers!
Wired: New Fingerprint Tech Could Mean Never Losing Your Keys Again. Or, put another way: “New Fingerprint Tech Could Mean Never Being Able To Change Your Locks Again.???
Fingerprint recognition came into wide use in forensic investigations in the early 20th century. Ever since, sci-fi writers and scientists have dreamed of using the unique skin contours on our fingertips to tell our machines we really are who we say we are. The problem is that the number of errors has just been too high.
The article breathlessly continues, extolling the new technology, but judders awkwardly to a halt at the privacy discussion. You can almost hear the sneering tone as they describe the tinfoil-hat Butlerian-jihading naysayers:
No story about biometrics is complete without mentioning privacy concerns. As they say in business, if you can measure it, you can manage it. And not everyone wants to be managed, especially if the government or a big corporation has the calipers.
This is a part of the right argument, but presented in the wrong way. It’s not that “not everyone wants to be managed.??? I’m not trying to stay off “the grid??? or anything—I use credit cards, I like advertising, I have a blog—but an increase in the use of biometrics for authentication still scares the pants off me.
The real problem is always this: how would you revoke that token if it were compromised? Passwords can be changed; door locks can be re-keyed. What about your fingerprints?
(US residents: Think about how damaging it is to have your Social Security number stolen. This is much, much worse.)