Young Adult Perception and Acceptance of Biometric Technology

Abstract

The ever growing need for more secure forms of identification has spawned many new and improved technologies. These technologies are known as biometric technologies and as they continue to develop and improve, the opportunity for greater personal and national security drastically increases. The problem is implementation and user adoption. As with any science, it is very difficult to gain wide spread adoption and trust from the general public. If we are going to continue to improve our security measures in this country then biometric technologies need to continue to be developed. The use of biometric technologies has the best chance of accomplishing this improvement. It is imperative that our country looks to implement these ever important technologies as they protect us in countless ways. There is proof of national success in other foreign countries such as India and the U.K. and their implementation of biometric technologies should be seen as a goal for the United States. With the tragic events of September 11th 2001, one would assume that the United States would already be a leader in implementing national biometric systems. Sadly this is not the case. There are many reasons for the general public, commercial businesses, and/or the United States government to be hesitant on implementing these technologies. These reasons include but are not limited to cost, privacy issues, reluctance and fear of a big brother government , information abuse, identity theft, and public perception of inconvenience or hassle. One would also assume that the younger generations would be much more accepting of these technologies as they show a much higher comfort level and dependency on the internet and technology in general. This may or may not be the case. Therefore, a survey study is conducted to measure the public perceptions and opinions on the use of biometric technologies that specifically targets the young adults, assuming that their altitude would be more influential in determining the development and future of biometric tec