6 Pros and Cons of Biometrics

As people are always looking for better ways to do everything, technology has constantly been evolving to develop new innovations and devices. This has extended to the world of security, where there is always a need for more secure solutions to ensure identities and data safe. In this aspect, biometrics has been developed. This technology is behind the analysis and measurement of biological data, bringing about many uses and purposes, with authentication offering the most benefits. However, this science also has its own set of drawbacks that needs to be considered. Here are the pros and cons of biometrics:

List of Pros of Biometrics

1. It is not easy to forge.
While traditional ID badges and timecards are easy to duplicate, biometrics is not easy to forge. As you can see, forging a retina scan or fingerprint is almost impossible to do for many individuals who are not familiar with how it works. This entails that the number of people forging security devices is greatly reduced. For example, biometrics has helped many corporations solve timecard fraud, which is a major concern among them.

2. It allows for easy identification.
The most notable benefit of using biometrics is its ease of use. For example, affordable fingerprint scanners will just require you to compare fingerprints among thousands or even millions of records that are saved in a computer database, which provides instantaneous results depending on the amount of data being compared. Also, employees will no longer have to carry ID cards, as they can simply use their own fingerprints for identification.

3. It is highly accurate.
It is just natural to look into accuracy and reliability if you want to implement a technology for security purposes. As for biometrics, it is highly regarded for being scientifically accurate and effective. Since unique biological characteristics are used to prove identification, this type of technology is considered as one of the best methods in this area of security.

List of Cons of Biometrics

1. It is seen as too invasive by many people.
One huge issue that comes with biometrics is that it is seen by many people as invading too much of their personal life, making them uncomfortable to think of it being the norm for authorization. As you can see, many people do not like using a fingerprint, retina or facial scanner on a regular basis, as they feel that it is not safe.

2. It can still be got around by criminals.
It is said that criminals can still find ways to get around biometrics, which means that this technology is not entirely effective in stopping these people from doing what they want.

3. It comes with high costs.
The biggest reason why many organizations avoid using biometrics is that the technology is expensive. While it is innovative and accurate, it is not cheap by any means. Not only that do you have to purchase the device, but you also have to buy the software that runs it.

Biometrics is an innovation that you can use for security and convenience. However, you should also look into its drawbacks to be able to decide if it is the best solution for you, or not.

About the Author
Brandon Miller has a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a seasoned writer who has written over one hundred articles, which have been read by over 500,000 people. If you have any comments or concerns about this blog post, then please contact the Green Garage team here.