Osama bin Laden’s Identity Confirmed With Biometrics Technology. You’re Next

05-02-2011 • blogs.forbes.com

The results of iris-recognition scanning are unambiguous, which gives civil rights activists great pause. Your iris will literally be your key to many things in the future. It will be your personal password to your computer and mobile device. The key to your car and house. Your access code to ATM machines. And who needs credit cards when the supermarket can scan your eyes? A nurse will be able to scan your iris the moment you enter an emergency room, immediately accessing electronic health records at the soonest possible point of care. Don’t be surprised to experience any (or all) of these scenarios in the coming decade. But don’t forget this. Iris-recognition technology already has evolved to the point where authorities can very quickly scan members of a crowd from a distance of 10 feet, a figure expected to increase dramatically. That means that they can scan your eyes without your consent. Forget about Apple tracking your iPhone or the government infringing your Fourth Amendment rights with GPS technology. Iris tracking allows authorities to track you with extraordinary precision. Tom Cruise taught us that. And if you’re willing to be tracked without consent and place your faith in your iris’ uniqueness to vouch for your identity, remember that technology is always fallible. It will fail, and citizens will be misidentified...