Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Japan To Begin Testing Fingerprints As 'Currency' (the-japan-news.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the what-could-go-wrong dept.

schwit1 quotes a report from The Japan News: Starting this summer, the government will test a system in which foreign tourists will be able to verify their identities and buy things at stores using only their fingerprints. The government hopes to increase the number of foreign tourists by using the system to prevent crime and relieve users from the necessity of carrying cash or credit cards. It aims to realize the system by the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The experiment will have inbound tourists register their fingerprints and other data, such as credit card information, at airports and elsewhere. Tourists would then be able to conduct tax exemption procedures and make purchases after verifying their identities by placing two fingers on special devices installed at stores. The Inns and Hotels Law requires foreign tourists to show their passports when they check into ryokan inns or hotels. The government plans to substitute fingerprint authentication for that requirement.

8 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. not really using fingerprints as currency by aldousd666 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They're using them as an identifier to connect with your actual currency.

    --
    Speak for yourself.
  2. Fingerprints are so easy to forge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You leave them literally everywhere.

    Why not optical retina scans?

    But this still leave the problem that every reader must be trusted. We know from ATM machines, this is not the case, and once that biometric data is stolen... you can't change it unlike a password.

    I envision a lot of suck in the future.

  3. It's unique until it's digital by rmdingler · · Score: 4, Insightful
    One reason I've shied away from using the fingerprint as a security device on my cellphone or laptop

    is the certainty with which I presume anything digital will eventually be stolen if it matters enough to someone else.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  4. This will work! by jmcvetta · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Great idea, zero potential for / certainty of abuse! And so secure! Tricking a fingerprint reader requires special advanced technology.

  5. too expensive by supernova87a · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nice idea, but news bulletin to Japanese government: Crime is already nonexistent in Japan compared to every other destination for foreign visitors, and ease of payment isn't what's keeping people from visiting.

    How about you make the country more affordable to visit instead?

  6. This will not end well by schwit1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Having only foreign tourists beta test it ensures the Japanese people are not at risk, which should tell you the confidence they have in the system.

  7. How about no. by kuzb · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is like leaving my bank PIN number and bank card on everything that I touch. Do. Not. Want.

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  8. Revoke it? by fizzup · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Excellent idea. Perhaps someone can quickly describe how to revoke a compromised identity when it's based on your fingerprint.