Would you be ok with paying for something by fingerprint?

A gym membership company, Gym Alliance, offer cheap gym memberships to over 70 gyms throughout Australia. However, instead of issuing membership cards, they require a fingerprint scan. You would then gain access to the gym by scanning your fingerprint. They say that this fingerprint cannot be reproduced to be used by someone so should be secure.

My issue is giving away this very personal piece of information about me. I can change my address, credit card, phone number etc but cant change my finger print. Seems to be a bit much to give to someone other than the police when you need to clear your name (so far I havent had to do this).

I wouldn't be ok with it. Cool technology etc to be able to do it but it is not for me.

I would be looking for more details on how secure their database is, and is the fingerprint data covered by their Privacy Agreement that covers all the rest of your personal info?

If so, then sounds OK. They are right in that your fingerprint is unique to you, and no-one else would be able to gain access by claiming to be you.
There is a minimal risk as with handing over any personal info, but the way that fingerprint data is stored makes it virtually useless to anyone else. For instance your print can't be taken from their computer and left at a crime scene, it can't be taken from their database and used for access to a gym, because the way the systems work is by comparing the live scan data that you give, against the database copy. More secure than them holding "normal" personal info - that can be stolen and easily used, a fingerprint can't, as its stored electronically and software is needed to convert it back into the print image.

I worked in a police fingerprint unit for a few years, and I'd be happy to use my prints in this way as long as the contract between me and the gym included the print data as personal info covered by privacy laws - this then protects you against such things as the gym sharing your info with the police without your consent.

I'm surprised actually that with the electronic priint technology so advanced now that more places aren't using it. I'd also be interested to know what arrangements they have for people with dreadful prints - some people are naturally poor donors of fingerpirnts, or have damaged their prints through work etc.

I am just very wary of why they need fingerprints at all. Why not a photo ID? BTW I read the Daily Mail lol

Not exactly tough to get hold of that software though...

http://www.newfreedownloads.com/Soft...erprints).html

http://www.newfreedownloads.com/Soft...t-ActiveX.html

http://www.newfreedownloads.com/Soft...ended-SDK.html

I would be unhappy about giving my fingerprint to a gym, even with contracts in place. Would it not be possible for gym staff to use it in some dodgy way and with the continuous advancement of technology there's no knowing what could be done with it in a year or two's time.

I'd hazard a guess - only a guess mind - that someone has considered it a good selling point - sort-of "look at us, we're different". For instance, a few years back one of the selling points for new laptops was fingerprint recognition when logging in but it never caught on. Same with work ID/access cards - the biggest issue is the one we used to find in the police, some people are lousy print donors, their fingers are worn, injured, dirty, sweaty....all of those lead tio the print being rejected and not recognised. A small cut can lead to a scar that changes your print forever and would cause it not to be recognised.
I've got a bite from a hamster on the top of one finger, dates back to when I was 8 and you can hardly see it with the naked eye, only a few millimetres long, but it totally changed the pattern of my print - it shows up very clearly on a print. So while print recognition is good at this simplistic level it has some very real issues which can cause a wrong rejection of a legitiamte user which can't be easily overcome.
For police identification of livescan prints the electronic match is just a list of suggestions and is always verified by a succession of fingerprint officers -in the UK three FPOs are required to verify an identification for use in court. But a gym wouldn't have that available to them so the risk of being denied entry would be greater - they would need other ID as a backup.

Mythbusters did an expose of fingerprint scanners and broke the security using plastic fingerprints stuck on with glue.

Love Myth busters.

Fingerprint scanners sound just as easy to fool as anything else if you wanted to enough. Though why anyone would want to go to the gym is beyond me

Exactly! Nasty scary places!

THE spending habits of poker machine players would be tracked by their fingerprints and memory sticks under a proposal to tackle gambling addiction.
The radical proposal, known as "mandatory pre-commitment", is being considered by Prime Minister Julia Gillard to fulfil her gambling deal with independent Andrew Wilkie
Options to implement the scheme include smartcards to police daily limits in all machines - which could be open to rorting - or a more secure system where each gambler would be set a daily limit and a USB memory stick carrying their fingerprint.

The security issue is obviously a concern. But the main gripe I'd have of giving away my fingerprint is that its a bit too personal for it to be used against me. Generally I'm a fairly private person and feel that a finger print is as personal as someones darkest secret. Even though I wouldnt be able to pick it out of a lineup, but I dont want others being able to unless its the law and I need to clear my name.

Could I save my daily limit up and blow it all at the weekend.

Really smacks of a nanny state doesn't it. I know a lot of pokie players do have a problem, but honestly what right does the government have to tell you how much of your own money you can spend on what. They'll be monitoring drink next, Over 2 glasses of something per day and you get locked up.......if I vanish you'll know what happened

You must have been a right old felon to have had a print before 8...