Fingerprint security systems, sometimes called biometric identification systems, are increasingly used as a means of verifying employees attendance for pay-roll purposes and as a means of controlling access to secure areas. These systems usually differ in significant ways from the way in which fingerprints are collected by the police in that they do not store a graphic image of a fingerprint which can be brought up on a screen and compared to other fingerprints.

Typical systems scan characteristics of a person’s finger into either a two or three dimensional grid. The software analyses and combines significant features revealed by the scanning process with an algorithm to generate a unique number. This number is recorded in a computer and is matched with a PIN number or other identifying token known to the person who is recorded. The combination of token and stored algorithm is sufficiently reliable for most identification purposes.

One fingerprint system registers the fact that blood is flowing through the finger when a sample is made so that attempts to use false fingerprints can be detected. Some employees have voiced concerns that this means that it is capable of diagnosing medical conditions. From our investigations it appears that this does not in fact represent a measurement of blood pressure or blood flow.

Privacy NSW raised no objections to the use of one type of fingerprinting system in an employment context, provided employees were given a clear explanation of how the system operates and assurances that information will not be used for other purposes. This does not mean we endorse all possible uses of biometric identification. We recognise that the widespread use of biometrics would fundamentally alter the existing ways in which people are required to identify themselves. We are interested in collecting information on the use of biometric systems so that any other problems can be identified.