Will biometric security harm users?
Science fiction movies took a wrong turn in 1991. Previously, sci-fi customarily warned about the dangers of allowing technology to overtake humanity. It also warned us about bogeymen who usually turned out to be "commies from outer space", but that is probably best forgotten.
Things went pear-shaped with the release of Terminator 2, in which the warnings about an apocalyptic machine-run future got lost somewhere behind lots of explosions, special effects and franchise shoot-em-up games.
Microsoft is not well known for explosions or special effects, and I'm not sure how many of its employees have seen any pre-1991 sci-fi. However, the company has launched a keyboard that uses biometric data for authentication, the nattily named Optical Desktop Elite with Fingerprint Reader for Bluetooth. And it could spell doom for mankind. Well, sort of.
The manual states it is not intended for security purposes but for convenience. But what if you call in sick and a colleague needs a file from your machine? What if your hands get dirty? Will office workers have to become dirt-free obsessives like Howard Hughes?
