Biometrics: Are they ready for the office?

UK businesses expect biometrics to play an increasing role in workplace security - with almost half the companies polled in a recent survey saying they expect to implement the technology within two years.

Fingerprint and iris-scanning technologies are currently being rolled out for passports and ID card schemes but are more frequently coming in for consideration within the workplace as well.

An independent survey commissioned as part of the Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index revealed that 65 per cent of firms expect to eventually see iris scanning and fingerprint recognition systems in the office. Forty-four per cent of respondents said they expect it to happen within two years

More than half the respondents (54 per cent) believe biometrics is a justifiable security measure, though the same number said they would expect some staff or customer resistance to the controversial technology. Twenty-eight per cent expressed concerns about 'Big Brother' style abuses of biometric data.

Tony Reid, director of storage solutions at Hitachi Data Systems EMEA, said the figures reveal a changing attitude towards biometrics. He said the fact the technology is becoming more common and widespread means it will continue to gather momentum.

However, opinion in the industry is divided.

Ant Allan, research director at Gartner, said: "The corporate biometrics market continues to be dominated by vendor push rather than customer pull."

"Biometric systems will not be sufficiently mature for widespread corporate use before the end of 2009," he added.

Allan said one factor holding back adoption of biometrics is people's mindsets and the association they make between fingerprints and a perception of criminality.