Wearing your password on your sleeve in the new age of identity protection

"Are biometric passwords safe?

In 2013, India rolled out the biggest and most ambitious biometric identity system in the world.

The Aadhaar system collects the iris and fingerprint records for Indian adults and children, with each given a 12-digit identity number.

Dr Michael says the scheme is dangerous and open to problems.

"A lot of advocates in the privacy space are asking 'how can we prove that biometrics on that scale are unique'?

"We know they're unique on a scale of 50 million people, but we don't know at a scale of 1.2 billion, and there's no legislation to support a mandatory adoption [of the scheme]."

She says there is an inherent problem of giving away information that can never be changed.

While you can easily change your password, you can't change your fingerprint or the patterns in your eye.

"We're now giving away a lot of data and there's nothing to prove this will reduce terrorism, fraud or drug mafias participating in money laundering."

What are the other password alternatives?

Visit England and you'll find a country that has not only become accustomed to a largely cashless society, but is open to technology replacing the traditional password.

A Lloyds Bank survey of Brits found half expected to replace cash with new technology, a third would be open to wearable technology as a payment method, and seven per cent even said they'd be willing to use embedded microchips in their bodies.

Practically, someone would select their items from a shop and scan a device either inside them or worn externally on the way out to pay.

The rise of PayPass technology on credit cards without the use of a PIN shows these concepts are not far from reality.

But for now, passwords remain crucial to accessing your personal accounts online, and Katina Michael says there are a number of ways to protect yourself from account hacking and identity theft.

• Don't reuse the same password
• Don't use a dictionary word as a password
• Don't use a short password
• Give bogus answers to security questions
• Use a unique, secure email address for password recovery"

More here

Citation: Justin Huntsdale,September 18, 2015, "Wearing your password on your sleeve in the new age of identity protection", ABC Illawarra, http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/09/16/4313657.htm