Californian tech company, AOptix has developed a new tool for the iPhone 4 or 4S and the implications are quite worrying because the new tool is a biometric scanning device.
The term biometrics (or biometric authentication) refers to the process of identifying people by their characteristics or traits. Iris scanning devices are just one example of biometrics at work.
Although biometric technology can be very effective, and could be seen as the ultimate aid in verifying an identity; there have always been concerns about possible misuse of the technology and the gathered date. The thought of Big Brother watching you is frightening, but the possibility of Big Brother cataloguing your details and filing them away somewhere is terrifying. So the prospect of mobile phones with this technology is sure to be a very controversial issue.
The new tool is called the AOptix Stratus and it consists of an app and a wrap-around device that can be hooked onto an iPhone by using a 30-pin connector. The app can collect basic data such as facial images, voice recordings and GPS coordinates. The optional wrap-around device is necessary for higher-level work such as scanning irises and fingerprints. The app then sorts the collected data into profiles. After that a tap of the app is all that is required to send the information to a "network" via the phone's standard internet connection.
AOptix's new biometric app also has an automatic capture facility that first judges how close someone is, then makes any adjustments needed before collecting their data and filing it.
The app cost $3,000 000 to develop and the fact that the US Defense Department footed the bill, is possibly one of the most unnerving things about all of this.
