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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.
If a gym, retail store, or credit card company ask for my finger prints, they will get told in no uncertain terms to politely go fsck themselves.
Not happening.
If you aint law enforcement, don't even bother asking.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
I think we've just eliminated fingerprints as a viable identification method.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Something you are. This is just one of three.
It's funny they talk about not being connected to major crime databases - your employer would have a local copy that would be used for building access. Sure right up until they passed it off as part of your background check they'll run on everyone now. All part of your 90 day probationary period!
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Pandora's box of technology is already open. Our only option now is to try to shape the future, not return to the past. Don't close it with hope still inside.
Take for instance, employees of a collections agency. These are people who perform a distasteful, but still required service. Nobody really likes being called by a bill collector, nor do they like having to use one to get deadbeat clients to pay up. Deadbeats especially, despise bill collectors, and some are even belligerent enough to be a real physical threat to collection employees. This is why many collections agencies provide work aliases for call center staff, etc. If a foolproof means of identifying people is developed, these employees are at risk.
If you fear being associated with your employer, perhaps you should work someplace else? Also, you seem like a very judgmental person - I mean "deadbeats"? Have you conseidered the current economic environment and the fact that a LOT of people have lost their jobs?
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
There are several problems with this technology most importantly how it will be used.
#1.) Cops will use it like minority report. WOOO we know where you are
#2.) This leads to number 2. Computers are not really used to perform fingerprint analysis. Yes, they can shorten the list but, in the end, its always a human who decides if its a "match"
#3.) There is no standard protocol for deciding if two fingerprints match. It is completely subjective. The IAI has flat out said they won't create a protocol because its not possible
#4.) There is no predictable margin of error. Frankly with no protocol and 100% subjective human interpretation, there is no way to quantify the probability of a match or more importantly, the margin of error.....heck, fingerprint analysts have been shown to make different identification to the same prints on different days and in different context.
#4) fingerprint analysis operates on the assumption that all fingerprints are unique (or unique within a reasonable margin of error). There has never been any evidence to support this assumption. Even the FBI with probably the worlds largest fingerprint database has never published any data suggesting finger prints are unique.
This all leads to the worst part. Law Enforcement will put this in an automated system to read our prints around town and assume its good enough to harass, arrest and convict citizens.
I don't like where this is going.
Dont get me wrong, its cool tech. Its just going to make a mess of things
what would SCOTUS say if someone would invoke their right to defend themselves and 2nd amendment against illegal arrest?".
It would never get to SCOTUS. The police would shoot you dead on the spot.
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