Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Iris Scans and Fingerprints Could Be Your Ticket On British Rail (silicon.co.uk)

Posted by BeauHD on from the cost-of-convenience dept.

Mickeycaskill quotes a report from Silicon.co.uk: Rail passengers could use fingerprints or iris scans to pay for tickets and pass through gates, under plans announced by the UK rail industry. In its current form, the mobile technology is intended to allow passengers to travel without tickets, instead using Bluetooth and geolocation technology to track a passenger's movements and automatically charge their travel account at the end of the day for journeys taken. The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents train operators and Network Rail, said further development could see passengers identified using biometric technology in a way similar to the facial-recognition schemes used at some UK airports to speed up border checks. The RDG said more than 200 research, design and technology projects have been identified to increase the railways' capacity and improve customer service. Other projects include new seat designs that could improve train capacity by up to 30 percent and folding seats that could boost space during peak times, including tables that could fold into seats.

4 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Unrevokable keys... by StarryEyed · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...that can be stolen with any camera phone! What could possibly go wrong?!

    1. Re:Unrevokable keys... by quenda · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Its worse than that. Fingerprints are not hashable. So when somebody hacks the British Rail database, millions of fingerprints may hit the black market.

      And you know you should never re-use passwords.

  2. Not About Safety by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This type of government overreach is intended to track every one of us, everywhere, at all times. The whole point is to crack down on dissent. Every government is moving in this direction.

    This has nothing to do with safety or security. Do nothing and watch your liberty disappear.

  3. Not for me - Tinfoil Hat by Master+Moose · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would like my methods of payment and my physical being to be as separate as possible.

    It is invasive enough at the moment that public transport wants to 'force' traceable and easily tracked methods of payment in the name of autonomy and convenience (see Data Collection) and while I doubt they have very little interest in my specific transactions or movements - this doesn't sit easy with me.

    Again, my underwear drawer is clean - this doesn't mean I want to give everyone permission to look through it.

    --
    . . .gone when the morning comes