Surveys: Americans Favor Biometrics for Security

Eighty-two percent of Americans are willing to have their fingerprints scanned for increased airport security, and 86 percent favor facial-recognition technology to scan for suspected terrorists, according to two independent surveys released Oct. 3 by the research and consulting firm Harris Interactive Inc., Rochester, N.Y. On behalf of fingerprint solution provider Identix Inc., Harris surveyed 2,024 Americans about their perceptions of biometric use for national security. The survey found 82 percent of Americans surveyed would allow their fingerprints to be scanned for airport security, and 73 percent declared that biometric fingerprint technology is "extremely valuable" or "very valuable" for airport security. In a separate telephone survey of 1,012 adults, Harris found overwhelming public support for giving the FBI and the police a broad range of new powers to detect terrorism and to identify and catch terrorists. That survey found 86 percent favor facial-recognition technology to scan for suspected terrorists, 81 percent favor closer monitoring of banking and credit-card transactions, 68 percent favor a national ID system, and 63 percent favor expanded camera surveillance on streets and public places. In the same survey, 79 percent of the public expressed "moderate" concern about law enforcement agencies abusing such new powers.