BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Veridium, a leading developer of user-centric authentication solutions, today announced the findings of its Biometric Consumer Sentiment Survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults who have experience using biometrics to log into their accounts. The survey reveals an increased appetite for the technology, with 70 percent of respondents reporting that they would like to expand the use of biometric authentication into the workplace. Consumers cited speed (35 percent), security (31 percent) and not having to remember passwords (33 percent) as the primary reasons for liking biometric authentication.
“The pace of mobile device innovation is moving at lighting speed, and as a result, we’ve seen an uptick in the adoption of biometric technologies in consumer-facing apps,” said James Stickland, CEO, Veridium. “With biometric authentication becoming more mainstream, enterprises are well positioned to introduce the technology to their employees to create a fast, secure and frictionless experience when logging into workplace networks and applications.”
Consumerization of Biometrics
While enterprises began
introducing biometrics into the authentication process decades ago, the
introduction of the technology into mobile devices was the catalyst for
the consumerization of biometric authentication. The first publicly
available cell phone to include a fingerprint sensor was available in 2011
on the Motorola Atrix 4F. Since then, the consumerization of the
technology has exploded:
- Biometric use across devices – Survey respondents are using biometrics on personal devices, including their iPhones (68 percent), Android phones (25 percent), laptops (12 percent), tablets (11 percent), and smart speakers (5 percent).
- Most preferred identifier – The most common form of biometric identification used with cell phones (fingerprint) was also cited as most preferred by the majority of respondents (63 percent) over other features, such as facial recognition (14 percent), voice recognition (2 percent), or traditional passwords and PINs (8 percent).
- Security of identifiers – Survey respondents believe that fingerprint recognition is the most secure (50 percent) over the security of facial recognition (14 percent) or voice recognition (4 percent).
- Applications of biometrics – Not only are consumers using biometric authentication across an expanding set of devices, but the applications in which they are being used is also diversifying. Respondents are using biometrics to simply unlock their devices (80 percent), but also to access other applications including finance (35 percent), payments (31 percent), company networks (12 percent), travel (11 percent) and healthcare (10 percent).
Success Hinges on Transparency
As more consumers consent to
using biometrics, it’s critical that companies clearly communicate how
they’re using and storing this personally identifiable information
(PII). When asked if they believe companies are storing their biometrics
in an ethical way, more than half of respondents (57 percent) are either
unsure or neutral. Only about a third of respondents (35 percent) agree
or strongly agree that their biometric data is being stored ethically.
It’s important for companies to be transparent about how PII is being stored, as uncertainty could hinder adoption. This is a missed opportunity by companies, as multi-factor authentication leveraging biometrics can be a very effective layer of security, mitigating the impact of passwords stolen in data breaches or instances of identity theft. These are scenarios that consumers know all too well, with 38 percent of survey respondents confirming that they have been victim of a data breach. Forty-four percent of respondents believe that replacing traditional passwords and PINs with biometric authentication would better protect their personal information.
Generational Differences
While the majority of survey
respondents (70 percent) would like to expand use of biometric
authentication into the workplace, their preferences for doing so
differs widely according to age.
- Each age group has a different reason for using biometric authentication. Millennials (those under 35 years old) value speed (46 percent), Generation X (ages 35-55) values not having to remember passwords (44 percent) and Baby Boomers (over 55 years old) value security (30 percent) more than anything.
- Despite being deemed the generation of digital natives, millennial respondents surprisingly prefer traditional passwords (47 percent) over any form of biometric authentication. This preference varies over other age groups as well. Generation X’s number one preferred biometric authentication feature is fingerprint (42 percent), while Baby Boomers opt for voice (30 percent).
- Millennials most frequently use biometrics to access financial applications such as banking apps or ATMs (46 percent), followed closely by payments (45 percent). Alternately, Generation X’s number one application of biometric authentication is for travel (41 percent), and Baby Boomers most use the technology for healthcare applications (28 percent).
- Millennials are more likely than other generations to say they haven’t been the victim of a data breach (46 percent). Generation X is more likely than any other generation to have been the victim of a data breach (47 percent).
Methodology
Using Google Consumer Surveys, Veridium surveyed
more than 1,000 adult consumers who had experience using biometric
authentication. All respondents were located in the continental U.S. To
learn more about this survey, visit: https://info.veridiumid.com/biometrics-what-consumers-want.
About Veridium
Veridium is a leader in the development of
user-centric authentication solutions which link biometrics (what you
are) to smart phones (what you have) for trusted digital identities. Our
authentication platform and proprietary biometrics provide strong
authentication, eliminating the need for passwords, tokens, or PINs –
delivering multi-factor security with single-step convenience at a lower
total cost of ownership than traditional MFA solutions. Veridium has
offices in the U.S., the U.K., and Romania. For additional information,
please visit www.veridiumID.com.
