Public gets nervous about biometrics

If you have a fingerprint scanner protecting your family jewels, your data might be safe, but what about your fingers?

So, it`s all getting out of hand? Then on the other... there are recorded instances of people having their fingers chopped off, and the biometric industry takes the issue seriously, reports The Register.

The public fears losing their fingers to ruthless biometric ID thieves in the fingerprint-controlled future, apparently. Or at least, so says Frost & Sullivan analyst Sapna Capoor, who argued unconvincingly that "a dead finger is no good to a thief".

FaceKey wants consumers to buy sodas and other items from vending machines without the use of cash, says the San Antonio Business Journal.

San Antonio-based FaceKey has developed a technology that uses biometrics to access vending machines. And it has filed an application with the US Patent and Trademark Office to protect its designs.

The patent application is titled "Biometric Access Control System for Vending Machines". It covers a biometric-based mobile device that can provide controlled access to many different types of vending machines.

Panasonic is to introduce its next-generation iris recognition reader at DatacenterDynamics London 2006, to be held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel on 28 and 29 November 2006.

According to turk.internet.com, The BM-ET200 looks set to re-define the possibilities of biometric technology in physical security for data centres.

Biometric technology is seeing increasing usage in security-critical environments such as airports, immigration control and financial institutions.