- The day will come when you put your finger on a scanning
device to prove who you are before you engage in transactions at retail
stores, ATMs, banks and even when you buy groceries. One company making
such a device is engaged in a pilot project with the nation's largest grocery
chain.
-
- Biometric Access Corp. has teamed up with four Kroger
stores in the Houston area to test a point-of-sale finger-scanning device
for retail transactions. The pilot project has been under way for just
over a year and is working well, even though some customers don't like
it, according to Kroger spokesman Gary Huddleston.
-
- The Kroger stores are using the device to provide positive
identification for payroll check cashing, not for actual sales. Huddleston
says customer acceptance is one of the challenges that must be overcome
if the device is to be used for all transactions.
-
- "Many customers have seen the value of the security
in the system. The finger image is positive identification," Huddleston
told NewsMax.com in a phone interview. He said a personal identification
number was not very secure.
-
- Will the finger-image scanner become common in all retail
stores in the future?
-
- "I'm sure it will," said Huddleston. "Customer
acceptance is one challenge, and cost is the other challenge. As soon as
we overcome those."
-
- Use of the finger image for check cashing at the four
pilot Kroger stores is optional, but Huddleston said most customers use
it once they understand how it works and that they can get their check
cashed faster if they submit to the finger-image scan
-
- The finger-image scanner can easily be used for all point-of-sale
transactions, including the use of checks, credit cards and debit cards,
according to Biometric Access Corp. spokesman Hal Jennings. The system
is also used for computer security and for clocking workers in and out
of work, replacing old-fashioned time cards.
-
- The use of finger-image scans is hailed by some and highly
criticized by others.
-
- "My primary objection is to government surveillance
of citizens, more so than that of private businesses. However, the trend
by retailers and employers to use biometrics to screen customers and employees
is alarming," said activist Scott McDonald, who has a Web site (www.networkusa.org/fingerprint.shtml)
that fights the use of fingerprints.
-
- Conditioning the Public
-
- He says the use of finger-image scans by retail stores
is one way the government can "condition" the public to "accept
the same kind of perpetual scrutiny by government using the same technologies."
-
- McDonald told NewsMax.com that he was concerned about
an increase in the number of government and business partnerships.
-
- "It is likely the information generated by private
biometric scanning by banks, businesses and employers will eventually be
linked to, or accessible by, government computers," explained McDonald.
-
- Biometric Access Corp. has also established a contract
with H.E. Butt Grocery Co. in Texas "which will result in a large-scale
implementation of the SecureTouch On-Time(tm) time and attendance system,"
Jennings said.
-
- More than 700 units will be installed in stores using
biometric fingerprint readers to keep track of 50,000 employees as they
clock in and out of work.
-
- Biometric Access Corp. also sold 6,000 similar readers
to the state of New York for the Office of Mental Health to be used to
protect highly confidential files.
-
-
- David M. Bresnahan (David@Bresnahan.com) is an independent
journalist. An archive of his work is available at http://InvestigativeJournal.com.
-
-
- MainPage
http://www.rense.com
-
-
-
- This
Site Served by TheHostPros
|