Would You Submit Biometric Data to Join a Gym?

An anonymous reader asks: "I went to my gym (Rocky River, OH branch) yesterday and there was a huge line of people at the counter. When I went to the scanner to swipe my membership card, I noticed they were training people in the use of their new security system that requires the input of your thumb print. There currently a story on boingboing that mentions a tanning salon in Arkansas that is enacting a similar policy. I'm going to call the gym later today and see what type of security they have on their network. I guess we can look forward to a future where these sorts of personal services clubs require the submission of biometric data. I was wondering how the members here at Slashdot feel about the security risks involved in submitting biometric data to small private companies?"

Comments

How secure is their security?

[AndroidCat]

Once they've got your biometric data, how secure are they going to keep it? Unlike a password, it's not possible to change your biometric data if someone steals the gym's files and uses it to spoof other systems.

It's...um...bad

[tha_mink]

I am fearful regarding theft of my fingerprint or any other biometric information since I KNOW that eventually, someone will steal it from anyone who collects it from me. But then, someone could easily get my fingerprint by following me around for a little while and picking up my trash. Same with DNA for that matter.

Re:It's...um...bad

[sartin]

But then, someone could easily get my fingerprint by following me around for a little while and picking up my trash.

Yes, but following you around is labor intensive and targets you specifically. For less effort (at most small business networks I've seen), a hacker could recovers hundreds or thousands of fingerprints (or other biometric data). This change in scale changes the nature of the problem and removes control from you. Without the biometric data stored in the business computer, the paranoid can wear gloves or dab their fingertips with various substances to disrupt attempts to get fingerprints. That control is gone when the data gets stored on computers owned by various businesses.

thumbs are useful

[chewy]

Though I feel you are correct for being sceptical about the security of biometrics, I think that the convenience of using a thumbprint machine for entry into a gym is worth the sacrifice.

Better than having swipe-cards that fail after a single wash. (Thumbs are wash-proof!)

But using thumbs as positive I.D. for your bank account is a bad idea.

See?

This country was founded by criminal lovers

[Safety Cap]

you'd only really need to be worried if you planned to commit a crime; for non-criminals there's really nothing to worry about.

Damn those long-haired freak Founders and their crazy ideas. If only someone would've told them that innocent men have nothing to hide, they could've avoided making many unnecessary additions to the US Constitution.

Re:Copyright (C) Yourself. Right now.

[GigsVT]

You can't copyright facts. There's no creative process involved with recording the length of various things on your body.

Not big brother

[brian6string]

Alright, everyone take a deep breath here. The idea of a fingerprint to sign in at the gym is there as a customer convenience You don't have to carry a membership card into the place, and then find somewhere to stash it while you're exercising. This is actually a good thing.

And, as someone pointed out already, there is no security concern to be worried about. Even if someone copied their thumbprint database, I mean, what could you do with that? Nada...