Biometric Payments and Data Privacy

by Deepak Sharma on Sunday, March 23, 2008

This news article caught my eyes because of the data privacy issues I see in this. Apparently a retail store in Chicago area stopped allowing biometrics payments, the reason being, the company behind the technology, Solidus Networks Inc., a provider of payment processing, is no longer operating its biometrics unit. The company went bankrupt sometime back. Now the question arises, what happens to all the Finger scans that the company must be having.

"If you think you've got problems when someone steals your Social Security number," said Saffo, "it's a much bigger deal if they steal your thumbprint."
Decentralized biometric systems that enable customers to keep their fingerprint information in their own cell phone or personal computer are inherently safer than centralized systems, Saffo said, though nothing is absolutely safe.

What does law say in such kind of scenarios?