Common use of Physical Biometrics Clause in Contracts

Physical Biometrics. Biometrics based on physical characteristics can be used as an additional or alternative authentication factor for user authentication. An advan- tage it has is that it generally is quite usable. Disadvantages include the unwillingness of some people to use them due to social stigmas and the limited number of nonreplace- able characteristics (which can be zero for users with disabilities). These disadvantages limit biometrics for user authentication to users who want and can use them, which is why an alternative authentication method (based on the other two factors) has to be available. Physical characteristics were not used for user authentication by any of the surveyed banks in 2013. Registering these characteristics requires specialized sensors. These sensors were not widely integrated in user equipment at the time. While banks could opt to distribute needed equipment, it would be very expensive to support an authentication method for which an alternative must always be available. The use of physical characteristics has been observed in our 2015 survey for a lim- ited number of mobile banking applications. Two banks support Apple TouchID, which consists of a fingerprint sensor, operating system support, and an application program- ming interface. The fingerprint is used as an alternative to providing a PIN, while the applied possession factor remains the same. Enrollment is performed by the operating system and not by the mobile banking application. More banks have indicated that they will support Apple TouchID in the future [Xxxxxxxxx 2015]*, despite that it is possible to spoof fingerprints [Chaos Computer Club 2013]*.