Quite inevitably, passwords will be a thing of the past, replaced by biometric methods for identity verification. It is actually starting right now with most high profile smartphone releases featuring a fingerprint reader of some kind.
But according to an Engadget article, fingerprints are nearly not enough to ensure total protection. In this age wherein it is customary for people everywhere to save private or sensitive information in mobile devices or in cloud services, online security is more important than ever. This has prompted various service providers to continuously explore ways that are much safer than the standard two factor authentication process.
This is where biometrics play an ever increasing role. Passwords are good and all, but when it comes to uniqueness, certain body parts do a better job. There is a good chance one’s password is similar to another person’s, but there is no way one’s fingerprints are identical to another. But fingerprints are just one side to the story -- starting to gain some popularity is the use of faces and eyes in verifying identity.
To be clear about it, facial and eye recognition methods are still a long way off from being the standard. But slowly, there is some progress, no doubt helped by the fact that a few flagship devices are already adopting the tech, like Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 for instance which boasts iris scanning technology.
But like any new tech, facial and eye recognition will surely go through growing pains. Even fingerprint scanning tech had to do the same. Apple first incorporated Touch ID on the iPhone 5s about three years ago, and it met a lot of criticism, mainly with regards to reliability. The iPhone maker, however, kept on improving the tech, and fast forwarding to now, even its rivals are putting fingerprint readers on their handsets. According to Sayeed Choudhury, the senior director of product management at Qualcomm, fingerprint scanners will be commonplace in a few years, not only on flagship devices, but on midrange and budget friendly handsets as well.
Will facial and eye recognition follow suit? It appears so, with tech giants such as Google helping to pave the way. On its Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich mobile operating system, the tech giant debuted its Face Unlock feature, and years later, eye print authentication is now being sported by devices such as ZTE’s Grand S3 and Alcatel’s Idol 3.
The cool thing about biometrics is that one method does not need to replace the other. All methods can complement each other, in order to provide more security for mobile users. We are not quite at that level yet, but given a few years (maybe half a decade from now), we will no longer have to worry about remembering that password.
