Fingerprint Readers

Fingerprint readers have become one of the most silently widespread technology. Technology that just works, is almost invisible to ordinary users, is extremely convenient. It also marries fire and ice, by making security really secure and extremely easy to use at the same time. The old school says security does not go in line with ease of use. Fingerprint readers defy that logic. iPhones are now almost legendary secure, leaving with even FBI helpless when trying to access locked devices.

Mobile phones and other devices we routinely carry with us hold lots of information that should be carefully protected. Banking accounts, brokerage accounts, corporate email, smarthome access applications, cloud files. Not long ago they were all protected using passwords and we were forced to enter passwords on many occasions.

Fast forward to 2018. I (almost) never use a password or a pincode to unlock my phone. I (almost) never use a password to access my bank via a mobile banking app. I (almost) never use a password to access my stock brokerage via a mobile app. Yet I would not cry a river if I left my phone with all that rich personal data at a bar. I am confident the security of my phone protected on the surface by a fingerprint reader is strong enough to withstand hacking attempts, even if the attacker has physical access to the device. And then on the next morning I can even wipe the device remotely.

At the same time the ease of use is better than ever. It "just works" to the extend many users do not realize the center button on an iPhone is more than a button. Or the space bar on a Blackberry phone checks a fingerprint every time it is pressed to unlock the device.

Fingerprint readers have been one of the most elegant technology that has been widely adopted.

And probably the coolest use case of that is confirming online credit card transactions, a process that finally makes me, the owner of a card, at command when approving or declining a card charge.