EYEBALL SCANNING FOR KIDS' SAFETY
A growing number of schools are replacing traditional identification cards with iris scanners. Winthrop University in South Carolina is testing out iris scanning technology during freshman orientation this summer. In June, students had their eyes scanned as they received their ID cards. The college will be deploying scanning technology from New Jersey-based security company Iris ID. "Iris scanning has a very high level of accuracy, and you don't have to touch anything," said James Hammond, head of Winthrop University's Information Technology department, CNN reports. "It can be hands free security."
"Imagine a world where you're no longer reliant on user names and passwords," Anthony Antolino, CMO of Eyelock – another iris scanning company, told CNNMoney. "If we're going through a turnstile and you have authorization to go beyond that, it'll open the turnstile for you, if you embed it into a tablet or PC, it will unlock your phone or your tablet or it will log you into your email account."
In an attempt to ease the concerns expressed by privacy advocates, iris scanning companies say all the data they collect is encrypted and owned by the individual businesses that employs the technology and not the tech company itself.
On one hand it makes sense, I suppose. But on the other hand, it just seems like we're losing our privacy little by little. The more our identity lives in databases, the more people have access to it. My son will never know the amount of privacy we had growing up. So much for skipping a class and heading down to the lake for a swim. The school, the police and I will know where he is at all times. Good for me, bad for him.
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