In 2001, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received 86,212 complaints relating to personal identity theft. Two years later in 2003 those complaints had risen by 40% to 214,905. One wonders what would have caused a 40% increase in complaints from this new form of theft.
Its because we now make so many of our transactions without being seen or heard. We conduct our business over the internet and anyone’s fingers could be at the keyboard. Anyone who surfs the internet is aware of the multitude of passwords now needed for banking and literally most sites.
Even with unique passwords some spyware can steal your passwords, credit card and bank account numbers, and Social Security numbers.
Actually a method developed in the late 1800s by Charles Darwin’s first cousin, Sir Francis Galton, maybe the best solution to our thievery problems caused by this high tech world of ours. In 1901, Scotland Yard began using his system as a means of criminal identification. One identifying characteristic we all have at our fingertips is our finger prints.
A company named DigitalPersona now has fingerprint hardware and software for the home PC called Password Manager. For example if you were to do online banking and you click on the button that says “see accounts” a pop-up window always appears, requesting that you identify yourself. Instead of logging in a password that could be stolen from you just press your right index finger for a split second on a small scanner the size of a postage stamp that is near your keyboard. Your finger print identifies you and you can complete your transaction.
The Azteca Bank in Mexico has registered 4 million people who can now use their ATM by identifying themselves only with their fingerprint. This is an excellent method of identification for this bank since many of their customers are migrant workers who do not have existing forms of ID.
Perhaps returning to the successful methods of identifying people used in Scotland Yard in 1901 will be the best technology in the year 2004 and beyond as well.
