Australians support biometrics to protect identities

Australians strongly support the introduction of new technologies to provide greater security for individuals’ data and finances, according to the Unisys Security Index by Newspoll of 1200 Australians released today.

Eight out of 10 Australians said they are concerned at some level about the security of their finances as well as their personal information. While almost 80 percent said they were concerned about other people obtaining and or using their credit and or debit card details.

“More than half of those surveyed said their level of worry was either ‘very’ or an ‘extreme’ concern,” said vice president and general manager of Unisys Asia Pacific, Andrew Barkla.

Further, Unisys research shows that almost all respondents are willing to use biometrics such as fingerprint and iris scans, to protect themselves and their information and finances.

In fact, seven out of 10 said they would be happy to give banks, government and other trusted organisations their fingerprints in order to enhance their security against identity theft and financial fraud.

Traditional ‘non-biometric’ identifiers such as PINS and passwords remain popular with 78 percent and 77 percent support respectively.

“These are sobering statistics, especially in the lead up to the holiday season when the sheer number of transactions taking place means that the risk of identity theft and financial fraud is elevated,” said Barkla.

“Unisys recommends Australians take particular care to ensure that they are doing everything they can to protect themselves against identity related crime,” he said.

The latest research reaffirms the findings of two years ago where Australians overwhelmingly supported they use extra techniques to verify their identity, including fingerprints and photographs.

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