Biometrics technology can be found right around the world, where it’s used to track crime and find missing persons – and that’s not all it can be used for.
Many casinos, retailers and hotels are opting for biometrics systems as a way to increase security, provide reliable identification and spot cheats. But there’s also a strong argument against this technology from many who feel that it’s just downright creepy when you’re subjected to it in a public place.
Why Introduce Biometrics
There are more uses for biometrics than just catching out a casino cheat. The same technology can be applied to spot everything from fugitives on-the-run, to underaged players looking to sneak onto the floor.
In one case, leading Australian casino Star introduced their biometrics systems for the first time after an employee tried to walk off with a casino chip worth $5, 000 by sticking it in a sock.
Outside casinos, biometrics is used by many retailers. Walmart for example, uses biometrics systems to spot people with a likely history of shoplifting based on a database of people who have, well, a history of shoplifting. Some others use it to spot a customer’s mood before they enter the shop – did I mention creepy?
Other uses for biometrics includes player-tracking for video games in order to see how the player is experiencing the game from a different point of view, and in the security and healthcare industries it can be used to provide identification on-the-spot for access to sensitive files or pharmaceuticals.
Interestingly, biometrics has also been applied to find people who might be missing for a variety of reasons, including Alzheimer’s patients too far away from the facility – and even, for example, if a missing person were to walk through airport security during a human trafficking attempt.
Last, biometrics can also be used for identification anywhere it needs to be verified, whether we’re talking about a high-security vault, the office workplace, your front door or your smartphone.
Against Biometrics: The Rise of the Watching Machines
There’s also a fight against the use of biometrics, with many critics saying that it comes too close to violating basic privacy rights in public places – for example, the FBI and ICE has previously scanned through driver’s license database biometrics data in cases where the users being scanned might not have been suspected of crimes, and didn’t know the search was taking place.
San Francisco is one city so far who has banned the use of biometric systems entirely due to privacy concerns like these.
Casinos in other countries seem more eager to implement the technology, with Japan hoping to introduce biometrics to their casinos as gambling laws they are-a changin’ – and biometrics being tried out at SkyCity in Auckland, Australia.
Leading Software Companies
Want to know more about biometrics? Take a look at some of the leading tech companies out there who provide software and security solutions for casinos and other industries. Here are 3 of them if you’d like to find out more.
