the Internet of things and into the age of Internet of everything,” he says.
“Biometric tools—which build on the widespread popularity of fitness
trackers, wearable devices, and popular social networking applications’
facial recognition features—only make technology more intuitive to use
and are the next natural step forward for business.”
Businesses agree. Last year online information technology market-
place Spiceworks conducted a survey of nearly 500 American and Euro-
pean companies of various sizes and found that 62% were already using
biometrics and an additional 24% planned to within the next two years.
Health care providers are relying on biometric tools to authenticate and
follow patients as they receive care to ensure that the right medicines
and treatments are given at the correct time every step of the way. They
help supervisors at production facilities track the hours of workers as
they move about corporate campuses and factory floors. Even farms use
them to log employee hours.
The continued advancement in biometric technologies, along with
their increasing adoption, promises ever more futuristic applications that
range from cool and convenient to truly transformative.
Consider these possibilities: Doors to homes, garages, and cars that
will recognize you as you approach and unlock themselves without a
single turn of a key. Stadiums, concert halls, and other venues that will
admit you without requiring paper or mobile tickets, because they’ll know
at a glance if you’ve already purchased a seat. Or customer support lines
that will surmise your needs the moment you call in, providing personal-
ized answers and solutions without forcing you to wait endlessly on hold.
Banks equipping their ATMs with facial recognition technology will
not only allow you to perform transactions without debit
cards or PINs but will also detect and identify thieves try-
ing to steal your money—and automatically report them
to the authorities. Pharmacies will be able to dispense
medications without requiring face-to-face interaction
with a pharmacist. In some countries, citizens will never
have to carry printed documents or records to access
health care or systems requiring government IDs.
And at work, computerized biometrics systems will
automate many of the procedures involved in access-
ing computers and resources, verifying overtime, and
tracking hours. An employer will know exactly when
you’re working and when you’re not, without asking
you to submit timesheets. And even if punching a time
clock is still required at your workplace, equipping it with
biometrics ensures accuracy and authentication and re-
moves the risk of “buddy punching,” a practice in which
someone punches in for a colleague who’s not there. In
many ways, biometrics can offer significant cost savings
for businesses.
Consumers are increasingly embracing biometric
authentication, according to the results of a global IBM
Security survey of 4,000 adults released in January- And with 67% of respondents reporting they were
already comfortable using biometric authentication
methods, and 87% saying they were looking forward to
using such methods in the very near future, you can be
certain that these high-tech advancements will only be-
come more popular across industries as varied as health
care and finance with each passing year.
Still, in spite of this level of acceptance, some unease
about privacy and security exists. That’s why industry
organizations advocate for policy that supports security.
To that end, they are working with legislators to ensure
that biometric technologies are used for ethical pur-
poses.
Maynard of Biometric Signature ID sums it up best:
“The future clearly lies in biometrics.” ●
S 5 http://www.fortune.com/adsectionsBIOMETRICS SPONSORED CONTENT
The continued advancement in
biometric technologies, along with
their increasing adoption, promises
ever more futuristic applications
that range from cool and
convenient to truly transformative.