A Futuristic Example: New Form of

A Futuristic Example: New Form of "Caller ID"

The advent of caller ID on the phone has led to the ability to decide if you want to talk to someone or not. It also allows us to be identified when we call into utilities like the phone company for immediate account access. Caller ID still suffers from the fact that it is anonymous to a certain degree. While the name associated with a number can be displayed, there is no guarantee that the party on the other end is who the caller ID says it is. Enter the new age of biometrics. Caller ID could be supplemented with voice biometrics. That is, the display name would appear, and when the phone is answered and the calling party speaks, a positive identification could be made.

What if this concept of identifying who is calling could be taken into new contexts? Currently we are under constant surveillance. Every move we make and transaction we execute can be positively traced back to us. With the cost of biometric technology falling, it will soon be reliable and cheap enough for everyday use. For example:

• Enter your favorite coffee shop in the morning, and your coffee order is waiting for you at the counter.

• You walk past the suit shop and it calls out to you by name, saying the latest spring fashions are in.

• Your daughter 's boyfriend, whom you do not like, comes to the house and the door won't open to let him in.

• Your own little personal identification device recognizes someone you have not seen in years and provides you with his/her name. This could result in no more embarrassing blank looks on your face!

While all the above increase our personal convenience, they could also prove to be privacy risks. For example:

• The coffee shop will find it easy to track your purchasing habits. It could, without your knowledge, sell that information to other marketing companies, or to your healthcare provider.

• The suit shop could sell your purchasing preferences to other retailers, along with your biometric data. Now, you would not be able to go anywhere without targeted advertising.

• Your daughter's privacy is invaded because you know how often her boyfriend comes over and, more importantly, at what times!

• Your personal authentication device could be subpoenaed by the police to prove your association with someone.

All these increases in convenience also come with possible losses of privacy. As such, stronger government regulations will be required to cover the use and correlation of biometric data to other data. This way, by safeguarding the public, biometric systems will be more widely adopted.