Consumer mistrust of the current processes that government and business use to protect the security of personal information, as well as misgivings about security at major border crossings, has reached new highs, according to data released by the Unisys Trusted Enterprise Index. In response to rising fears, consumers now overwhelmingly favor the use of biometric technology to identify individuals through physical characteristics such as fingerprints, facial patterns and hand measurements, and believe this will have the greatest impact to strengthen data and border security.
"We've seen a consistent outcry among consumers for more effective technologies, like biometrics, that will better equip businesses and government organizations to protect and verify personal information in a way that's reliable and convenient,"Â said Mark Cohn, vice president for integrated security programs at Unisys. "Consumers are concerned that current security processes at our nation's airports and borders are inadequate, which likely will result in even more widespread adoption of biometrics within these areas."Â
Across the board, a large majority of consumers in the United States (63 percent) and United Kingdom (87 percent) believe that the rise in identity fraud and the insufficient protection of personal information will become a significant security threat in the future, and feel that financial institutions and government are not doing enough to stop it. As a result, an even greater percent of U.S. consumers (69 percent) and U.K. consumers (92 percent) would prefer that banks, credit card companies, healthcare providers and government organizations adopt biometric technologies, as compared to other protection measures such as smart card readers, security tokens or passwords/PINs, to safely and quickly verify personal identities.
These findings are consistent with a previous 2006 Unisys worldwide survey on consumer security preferences released in conjunction with the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) last May. That earlier study showed that nearly 70 percent of consumers favored biometrics as the preferred method to combat fraud and identity theft, pointing to the convenience and speed in the identity verification process as a strong benefit.
Biometrics Adoption in U.S. Airports & Borders Could Increase Consumer Trust
The Unisys Trusted Enterprise Index found that beyond physical security, consumers believe biometrics will have the single greatest impact on strengthening U.S. airport security. Nearly two thirds (62 percent) of consumers claim they would have more trust in airport security as a result of a program like Registered Traveler, a government-supported private sector program that uses biometrics to enable frequent fliers to pass through the security screening process more quickly and efficiently without compromising security.
Similarly, close to 85 percent of consumers believe U.S. border security is inadequate, and only half believe the U.S. government is making it a priority. More than half (51 percent) feel that technology plays a significant role in ensuring homeland security, and point to biometrics as one of the best ways to improve protection, after physical security.
The Department of Homeland Security's Secure Border Initiative (SBI) includes a mix of technology and infrastructure that will provide U.S. Customs and Border Protection with an integrated border enforcement solution. Biometrics is one of the technologies that will improve law enforcement agents' ability to identify people attempting to enter the country illegally.
"The only way to increase detection of illegal entry attempts and smuggling at the land ports of entry without negatively impacting legitimate trade and travel is by using biometrics to identify trusted travelers,"Â said Cohn. "New programs like Registered Traveler and the Secure Border Initiative take advantage of biometric technology, which, according to Unisys research, may play an important role in encouraging a more trusted and secure as well as convenient customer experience. It's imperative that we understand which technologies consumers prefer and will accept comfortably, because that will essentially determine the effectiveness of security measures across the globe"Â - Unisys.
Posted February 5th, 2007 by Nymphadora
