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ZK Software
ZKSoftware is one of the leading MultiBio and RFID providers in the world. We have branches in New Jersey, Sao Paulo, Dubai, Johannesburg, Madrid and Dubai
BIO-key
BIO-key develops and licenses advanced biometric finger identification technologies that are cost effective, scalable and easy to deploy.
Merkatum
Merkatum develops “out-of-the-box” multi-biometric and biographic identity resolution systems. Our flagship product, "emfiva F/FRS®", determines and manages the identity of individuals.
IEEE CBP
Increase your knowledge and establish credibility in the field of biometrics with the IEEE Certified Biometrics Professional™ (CBP) Program.
Consumer / Residential Biometrics
Show Me CONSUMER BIOMETRICS Now!Biometrics is a technology that has very rapidly gone from being used only for government or big business security to having applications for consumers worldwide. Biometrics is technology that uses your individual and unique physical characteristics to identify who you are. Your finger print, hand print, vein patterns and irises can all be used to show that you are you, and give you access to your private data, medical records, financial records or personal property. Used only a few years ago by government for security, it is now finding its way into our daily lives more and more. The benefits of biometrics to the consumer are huge. They include controlling access to our personal data devices such as cell phones, and the ability to have a product customize itself to your likes and needs as soon as it identifies you. To those who work in the consumer market the benefits are staggering as well. The ability to identify age, for example is of benefit to resellers of restricted items, and the ability to target ads to specific people based on their previously stated likes is a huge matter for those who advertise to the average consumer. |
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For the consumer, biometrics offers an added level of security to products where it is desirable. If you need your specific thumb print to get into your cell phone or PDA, or to access a USB thumb drive, you can ensure that a thief will not get access to it. If an ATM needs to match your iris image before you get money, it makes it much harder for someone who might steal your ATM card. If you need to verify your identity with a hand print before completing an online purchase, you don't have to worry as much about someone snatching your credit card number and racking up your credit.
With residential property, a consumer can protected their home through biometric locks as well. Your home can be locked with a biometric lock that is tied to a security system, and the consumer can enable the lock to open for them or their family, and have police notified and a text sent to them if anyone else attempts to get into the house.
Biometrics has more to offer the consumer than security. Products such as a biometrically equipped car can remember your likes as to: seat position, environmental controls, music and GPS settings when it is given your identity through biometrics and customize itself to your liking instantly.
For those who make their living serving the consumer market, biometrics has been invaluable. For liquor store retailers, the ability to determine whether a customer is of age is essential. If you are selling a fire arm, you can tell at a glance whether someone has a criminal record. Pharmacists can find out if a customer is allergic to a medication before the prescription is filled out. For anyone trying to sell an item restricted in some way, the ability to identify a person as being able to buy the product will reduce crime and fraud by leaps and bounds.
For those who advertise to the average consumer, the tools that have been created through the use of biometrics have enabled the targeting of specific audiences and markets on an almost instantaneous basis. If you can flash an ad on a screen specifically targeted to the age group of a person whose iris you have just scanned, it is far more likely to capture the person's attention than an endlessly playing commercial flashed on the same screen.
In the space of a couple of years, biometrics has made an enormous difference to the consumer marketplace, and the changes are only beginning. The benefits for the individual consumer, the resellers and the advertisers are becoming more apparent each day. They reach far beyond the original emphasis on security, and with each passing day as the technology becomes more available and cheaper, we are coming up with newer and more innovative ways to use it.
Within the space of a few more years, consumer biometrics will influence not only our locks and the way we access data, but the way we buy and sell as well, as you can see with these solution providers:
