Your eyeball is your password

by
in hardware on (#3RW)
Interesting things brewing over at Google, where two recent patents show a push to operationalize new technology that lets you unlock a device using a retinal scan.
The process has three steps:
Receiving light on an iris of an eye
Detecting, at one or more light sensors disposed on or within a transparent lens covering at least a portion of the eye, light reflected from the light incident on the iris of the eye, wherein the light reflected comprises image data indicative of a pattern associated with the iris.
Outputting an iris fingerprint based in part on the image data
A related patent looks at an encoded contact lens and its application. Perhaps the days of Google Glass will be numbered, as the fashion-conscious will quickly move right to the next, obvious step.

Re: Your eyeball is your USER ID! (Score: 1)

by bryan@pipedot.org on 2014-07-28 22:52 (#2PD)

Indeed. Biometric login supporters always get this wrong and is one of my personal pet peeves. Fingerprints and retina scans are not passwords! In terms of login, you can narrow information sources into two simple categories.

Things you have
  • Name (or username)
  • Email address
  • Fingerprint
  • Retina Scan
  • Simple ID Card
This first list is mainly public information that nearly anyone can obtain (or guess) to use as a unique identifier. Nothing on this list should ever be used as a "password substitute."

Things you know
  • Password (or PIN)
  • Shared secret
This second list is secret information that is not public or easily obtainable. These are the things that could be used as a password.

To improve security, simply include an element from each list. A common example is: withdrawing cash from an ATM requires both a card and a PIN.
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