Eighty-two percent of Americans support the use of biometric identification on passports, according to a recent survey conducted by Truste, a privacy certification and seal program, and market information group TNS. Three-quarters of Americans support the addition of biometric information to driver's licenses and nearly as many (72.6 percent) support adding it to Social Security cards, said the study sponsors in a release. More than half (52 percent) of respondents agreed with the statement that "it will make it much harder for terrorists to operate within the U.S. with the use of biometrics to establish the identity of Americans." Conducted in September 2006, the survey indicates that Americans are willing to forego some personal privacy and anticipate misuse of the information in exchange for security.
Findings include:
- Fifty-three percent of respondents agreed with the statement that the use of biometrics "will greatly reduce personal privacy because the government will be able to track your movements."
- Sixty percent of respondents agreed that "there is a high potential for the government to misuse the information."
But Americans also seem unsure as to how effective biometrics are in combating identity theft. More than two-thirds of Americans (68 percent) believe that adding biometric identifiers to ID documents will make it much more difficult for thieves to steal their identities but a nearly identical proportion (67 percent) think that "criminals will find a way around the technology."
Seventy percent of respondents had heard of biometrics, the measurement of unique physical characteristics used to verify personal identity, prior to being surveyed.
"The survey results seem to indicate that in dealing with government use of biometric data, most people will tolerate a decrease in personal privacy to gain increased security in the form of physical safety," said Fran Maier, executive director and president, Truste. "This doesn't seem to translate to the retail sphere where consumers appear to be more cautious about giving away their personally identifiable information.
