Biometric Devices Essay

Submitted By Alinafratila
Words: 582
Pages: 3

Biometric devices all around us
Many components come into play when debating biometric devices. Is it ethical? Is it legal? Is it economical? Is it sociological? As technology continues to progress, the safety of society has to be considered. I believe that technological advancement is wonderful, but the natural right to privacy holds more importance.
Imagine, every time you want to enter a building you have to swipe your finger. It is not like just swiping a card. You have to physically be there to gain access. Teachers could require swiping your finger or getting your retina scanned to take attendance. This takes away the option of possibly having a friend sign you in if there was an emergency and you could not make it. Also, those records could be collected and future employers could possibly gain access to them. A person with bad attendance probably should not get a job over someone with good attendance, but the person with bad attendance could be automatically taken out of competition with no chance to explain. Although biometrics can legitimately address a host of problems from slow lunch lines, lost lunch money, cumbersome payment, fraud and bullying, to falling National School Lunch Program participation,
In most school lunch biometric systems, students place a forefinger on a small fingerprint reader. In seconds, the system translates the electronic print into a mathematical pattern, discards the fingerprint image, and matches the pattern to the student's meal account information. Though some providers claim that biometrics speed up every school lunch line, this isn't always the case. Biometric systems will speed lunch lines where cash is primarily used because students, especially younger ones, are prone to losing or misplacing cash and extra time is taken to make correct change. Personal Identification Number based systems and magnetic card-based systems can also speed lines.
Biometric devices can feel invasive. Americans especially have a culture that values privacy and the security of the individual in her person and property. As the Bite Project notes, "The freedom of the individual is perceived to be closely related to his ability to operate somewhat autonomously and anonymously." To the extent that biometrics is measuring and documenting a piece of you, it may feel more invasive than other security methods, and it reduces your anonymity and autonomy. Each school must carefully evaluate the implications biometric devices would have for its community.

More than that, biometric devices tend to have a higher misread