Could fingers replace credit cards?

[Fred_the_frog]

I'm not too sure on how credit cards work in detail, but I was thinking about finger prints and credit cards. I wonder if in the future all you would have to do is put your finger onto a small machine and it pays for the product.

It would replace the need for pin numbers and plastic cards, you could have up to 10 different cards (one for each finger). With a shared account, then you simple register both people's fingers with the account.

It would basically be replacing the need for a card, nothing else changes. It would make it easier and you would never be short of money (unless you have nothing in your bank account)

I'm sure there is a perfectly viable reason for why this isn't already happening, as finger print technology isn't relatively new, but it would be a cool thing!

^.^

 

[Banned]

Finger prints are not 100% unique so it could cause massive amounts of problems. Nice idea that will never happen.

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Finger prints are not 100% unique so it could cause massive amounts of problems. Nice idea that will never happen.

Oh, I thought they were :redface:

 

[telemarketer]

Finger prints are 100 unique. Its good idea.
I will install a small machine on my door bell when ever anyone ring the bell I will take our money from his account

 

[hendyphilhendy]

What about retina scans, but you'd only be limited to two accounts.

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Finger prints are 100 unique. Its good idea.
I will install a small machine on my door bell when ever anyone ring the bell I will take our money from his account

Good point.

 

[tony84]

I REALLLLLLY hope not!

How long before people start habing their hands cut off and accounts emptied!.... sorry im in Manchester its definately a possiblity.

 

[telemarketer]

I REALLLLLLY hope not!

How long before people start habing their hands cut off and accounts emptied!.... sorry im in Manchester its definately a possiblity.

This also a possibility.

 

[Fred_the_frog]

This also a possibility.

Well I'm sure the shop assistant or bank worker would notice you using someone elses hand O.O

 

[Montaigne]

Chip implanted in the finger, biometrically linked to certain aspects of you. Cutting the finger off would nullify it's effect.

 

[giffgore]

How would I use my fingerprint to buy stuff online?

 

[mit74]

no it's a very bad idea...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4396831.stm

**there's also a problem with copying finger prints, it's easily done. Imagine if details of your finger print got out on the black market? You can change a pin number and card number you can't change a finger print.

 

[telemarketer]

Programmer can make some restrictions like if the blood is circulating in hand process the order, if blood is not circulating do not charge

 

[Beachcomber]

How would I use my fingerprint to buy stuff online?

Some laptops have fingerprint scanners already built in.
It would be easy enough to link these to checkout systems online.

 

[tony84]

Chip implanted in the finger, biometrically linked to certain aspects of you. Cutting the finger off would nullify it's effect.

Would you really want someone connecting things to parts of your body?


Also, your finger could be used at cash machines maybe?

 

[Montaigne]

Would you really want someone connecting things to parts of your body?

Pace makers, replacement hips, metal joints, fillings etc.

 

[giffgore]

Some laptops have fingerprint scanners already built in.
It would be easy enough to link these to checkout systems online.

A scammers's dream come true! Providing APIs to browsers which allow the use of a fingerprint scanner is just a massive phishing scam waiting to happen, and imagine if black hat hackers used a zero day finger print reader exploit in Internet Explorer or something! And like mit74 said, you can change a PIN but you can't change a fingerprint - if it gets into the wrong hands (no pun intended) you're screwed.

In short, this is a terrible idea. It's a simple way of doing things, yes, but simplicity is usually at the expense of security, which I don't think is ever worth it, and when it comes to something which holds details of your identity and all your money, that sacrifice certainly shouldn't be made.

 

[WJP]

A scammers's dream come true! Providing APIs to browsers which allow the use of a fingerprint scanner is just a massive phishing scam waiting to happen, and imagine if black hat hackers used a zero day finger print reader exploit in Internet Explorer or something!

Can you explain this a little more? I use a fingerprint scanner on my laptop and it's one of the best gadgets I've ever had to be honest.

 

[Banned]

Again, finger prints are not 100% unique. Yes the chances of yours matching someone's in the UK or even Europe and slim in the extreme. But worldwide and 7 billion people with "locality" not being an issue? All it takes is for someone 12,000 miles away to have the same paws as you and your bank accounts is empty, or vice-a-versa.

 

[tony84]

Thats to improve your lifestyle/expectancy.
I wouldnt want people cutting into me just so i dont forget my bank card (which i do frequently).

 

[leemason]

They'd have to improve the technology more first. I use a hosting centre and they have finger print ID for access. It can sometimes take 5-6 attempts before my finger print is recognised. I'm told by them that some people have finger prints that are much more difficult to match than others.

Having said that I'm not really keen on private companies holding biometric data on me!

 

[wdog5555]

Again, finger prints are not 100% unique. Yes the chances of yours matching someone's in the UK or even Europe and slim in the extreme. But worldwide and 7 billion people with "locality" not being an issue? All it takes is for someone 12,000 miles away to have the same paws as you and your bank accounts is empty, or vice-a-versa.

I'm wondering what the chances are that mine and Richard Branson's fingerprints are a match?

 

[giffgore]

Can you explain this a little more? I use a fingerprint scanner on my laptop and it's one of the best gadgets I've ever had to be honest.

If websites you visit are allowed to use your fingerprint scanner, it stands to reason they can get and save a copy of your fingerprint. If an untrustworthy site does this, they have access to your bank account, and you can't just change your fingerprint so there's no way to stop them from accessing it at that point.

At the moment, fingerprint scanners on laptops are just used to log you in and obviously fingerprints aren't connected to bank accounts, so you shouldn't be in any real danger, it's just that if they were used in this way it'd create security issues.

 

[90DC]

Could never possibly work. What's up with a bit of plastic? Where did this idea come from?

 

[Montaigne]

Just inserting a chip under the skin of your finger would work and you still use a pin. "Pin and Poke" anyone?

 

[Fred_the_frog]

Could never possibly work. What's up with a bit of plastic? Where did this idea come from?

I was eating lunch and daydreaming

 

[mit74]

Can you explain this a little more? I use a fingerprint scanner on my laptop and it's one of the best gadgets I've ever had to be honest.

As mentioned is a hackers/phishers dream. Imagine a legitimate website getting hacked (and they do all the time especially for phising) the hacker simply inserts code so when a person buys a product the finger print data gets sent to the hackers own server/email. They could receive thousands of finger prints before the hack is discovered. Once your fingerprint is on the black market you cannot use it again for banking.
Using the finger print scanner on your laptop as a password is fine at the moment, there's no financial benefit of a hacker getting hold of a fingerprint. It would also be likely the finger used for bypassing a windows password would be different to the one used for banking.

 

[giffgore]

If you have a glossy plastic laptop, anyone can get into it using the fingerprint scanner, FYI.

It's a shame most people don't care about security these days. I have encryption on all my files and strong passwords as well as multiple firewalls. I also refuse to connect any Windows computers to my network. I may be crossing the line into paranoia in the eyes of many people, but I've certainly got a lot more security than them.

 

[mit74]

If you have a glossy plastic laptop, anyone can get into it using the fingerprint scanner, FYI.

It's a shame most people don't care about security these days. I have encryption on all my files and strong passwords as well as multiple firewalls. I also refuse to connect any Windows computers to my network. I may be crossing the line into paranoia in the eyes of many people, but I've certainly got a lot more security than them.

Yep that's crossing the line a bit

 

[I Love Spreadsheets]

I know the MythBusters program defeated the most upto date (at the time of filming) fingerprint scanners with nothing more than superglue and some latex.

Finger print scanners are ideal for stopping people getting in to your layptop etc, but not secure enough

Also what happens if you have an accident and are minus the finger you used to set up your accounts up with? Does that mean you are locked out of your bank account and your laptop?

 

[Fred_the_frog]

I know the MythBusters program defeated the most upto date (at the time of filming) fingerprint scanners with nothing more than superglue and some latex.

Finger print scanners are ideal for stopping people getting in to your layptop etc, but not secure enough

Also what happens if you have an accident and are minus the finger you used to set up your accounts up with? Does that mean you are locked out of your bank account and your laptop?

You take you passport down to the bank, tell them, and they register you next finger ^.^

Might cause a stir with people who have been born with no fingers though :|

 

[davek17]

I think fingerprint tech is flawed slightly. The reasons I give for this are:

1. You can't change your finger print. What if some one does manage to clone it? How do you change it? Is 10 printes enough for alifetime? What if you run out? What if you can;t remeber which finger you are using?

2. Is it "accessible" technology? What I mean by this is that it could contravene legislation for disabled people without limbs or fingers or people who can't use the machines due to illness or disability. We'd have to run a seciondary system anyway, why not all use that?

3. Changing finger pattenrs. How do you cope with 14 years old finger prints growing into 30 year old ones? How do you cope with a scar from a stanley knife doing DIY at the weekend? You have no 2nd card to use.

4. Your finger prints are used by the government and police to track criminal activity. I'm not sure if I want to use the same data for my every day payments. You just know that this data will be shared with all the government bodies, used, abused and lost in taxi's. i think there is a privacy issue here.

5. Are we upping the anti on crime? You know like a we get knives, they get gins, we get bombs, they get armies etc etc. I'd rather lose my credit card and get that bashed than be kidnapped and dragged round town to get money or worse still have my finger chopped off! How does this change the scenario for the old and young or generally vulnerable people?

6. I know I might have been watching too many James Bond films, but is it not possible to copy a finger print easily. Won't we have all kinds of people dusting for prints and then copying them?

7. What about different banks and cards etc. Do you use the same print to access everything which could actually put you at more risk? Do you use a different print for each account, how do you remember?

I know that the technology will propbably require a secondary check like a PIN number and I am usually a proponent of new tech like this but I do wonder if this one pushed it too far?

DaveK17

 

[joselin7410]

I'm not too sure on how credit cards work in detail, but I was thinking about finger prints and credit cards. I wonder if in the future all you would have to do is put your finger onto a small machine and it pays for the product.

It would replace the need for pin numbers and plastic cards, you could have up to 10 different cards (one for each finger). With a shared account, then you simple register both people's fingers with the account.

It would basically be replacing the need for a card, nothing else changes. It would make it easier and you would never be short of money (unless you have nothing in your bank account)

I'm sure there is a perfectly viable reason for why this isn't already happening, as finger print technology isn't relatively new, but it would be a cool thing!

^.^

If it could be success...It will be so cool and convenient..