Slashdot Mirror
Have Your Fingerprints Read From 6 Meters Away
First time accepted submitter Burdell writes "A new startup has technology to read fingerprints from up to 6 meters away. IDair currently sells to the military, but they are beta testing it with a chain of 24-hour fitness centers that want to restrict sharing of access cards. IDair also wants to sell this to retail stores and credit card companies as a replacement for physical cards. Lee Tien from the EFF notes that the security of such fingerprint databases is a privacy concern."
Since the last time this technology was mentioned more than a year ago, it seems that the claimed range for reading has tripled, and the fingerprint reader business has been spun off from the company at which development started.
"Hi. Would you like to open an account today with your purchase? You can save 10%! All we ask is a photo ID and email address that we can reach you at. Oh, and we'll also need a scan of your fingerprints, DNA swab and allow us to implant this teeny tiny device at the base of your skill just beneath your skin. What? Oh don't worry, it only transmits audio commercials to your ear every three minutes. I wouldn't recommend standing near a microwave because you'll piss your pants and forget who you are for about an hour or so."
...but was unsure how he felt, hence the one glove.
Hey, guys, scan this fingerprint. Yeah, the one on my middle finger, that's right.
So are we going back to the habit of wearing silk gloves all the time now? I wouldn't mind that.
Silk gloves for fingerprints, beekeeper suit so as to not shed DNA in the wrong place, mask to obscure facial recognition and a wonky shoes to evade gait detection... Michael Jackson may have been sent from the future.
Not if you wear Bugles snacks on the end of your fingers.
Or have recently eaten cheez-its.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I don't know about fingerprints at 6 meters away, but if they come up with a miniature portable through the clothes scanner (ALA TSA) that can scan people from 6 meters away, I'll be happy to take it through a chain of 24-hour fitness centers to beta test it for them.