SCDigest Editorial Staff

The News: Long a staple of futuristic movies, “Biometric” Identification of consumers has gone from Hollywood to mainstream in just a couple of years, as theme parks and grocery store payment systems sprout from California to Dayton, OH.

SC Digest Says:

Fingerprints might someday be used to check in and off the job, eliminating the “time clock fraud” that sometimes occurs when other workers punch in or out for an employee. What do you say? Send us your comments here

The Impact: There has always been a great amount of interest – and fear – about systems which would identify humans based on biological signals (fingerprints, retina scans, etc.), but it always seemed more sci-fi than real. With the growing prevalence of biometric systems in the market, however, have we reached a point of critical mass where they will soon be commonplace? Or will privacy concerns emerge that throttle further development at some point?

The Story: “Biometrics” are automated methods of recognizing a person based on a physiological or behavioral characteristic. Among the features measured are face, fingerprints, hand geometry, handwriting, iris, retinal, vein, and voice.

As the Biometric Consortium (http://www.biometrics.org/) web site notes: “Biometric technologies are becoming the foundation of an extensive array of highly secure identification and personal verification solutions. As the level of security breaches and transaction fraud increases, the need for highly secure identification and personal verification technologies is becoming apparent.”

In recent years, theme parks such as Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando have rolled out fingerprint-based systems designed to eliminate the ability of visitors to sell or give away admission tickets to another consumer when their visit is over.

The new system requires the guest to have their fingerprint (generally, the right index finger) scanned when they first enter the park. That image is tied to the serial number of the admission ticket. Subsequent admissions require the process to be repeated, and if the fingerprint in the database doesn’t match the one tied to the ticket ID, admission would be refused.

Related biometric technology has also moved into grocery store payment systems. A growing number of grocers, such as Jewel-Osco, Cub Foods, Piggly Wiggly and Harris Teeter have rolled out pilot or production systems in at least some parts of their chains from a company called Pay by Touch. With that system, after a consumer registers with the system, they can pay for their groceries simply by having their fingerprint scanned at an in-store kiosk. No credit cards, check, cash or driver’s license required – you wouldn’t need to carry a wallet or purse to buy groceries.

BioPay is another company in the space, once a rival provider to Pay by Touch but acquired by the company is 2005.

Dorothy Lane Markets, an upscale, three-store chain in the Dayton, OH area, is now rolling out the Pay-By-Touch system in all three of its stores. In the past, the small chain has often been used by Dayton-based NCR Corp. to test new retail technologies.

Tom Jackson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ohio Grocers' Association, said the new Pay By Touch or similar system is more secure than traditional payment methods.

"Our fingerprint, or our retina, it's indigenous and unique to us, so therefore, that adds to the security that the person who's supposed to be using this charge is in fact the person who should be," he said.

But will consumers or privacy groups generate any backlash against private companies amassing huge databases of their biometric data? It doesn’t appear to be a problem yet, and every day tens of thousands of attendees to the Orlando theme parks provide their fingerprints routinely, without any real knowledge of what is happening with that information.

With the growing use in consumer-oriented applications, is there any potential in the supply chain? There would actually seem to be endless possibilities. For example, fingerprints might someday be used to check in and off the job, eliminating the “time clock fraud” that sometimes occurs when other workers punch in or out for an employee. Perhaps someday, a fingerprint scan will be part of the delivery process for a shipment to a home address, for example.

What is your take on the increased use of biometric identification in consumer markets? Do you expect any privacy backlash? What applications, if any, do you see in the supply chain? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback button below.