While you can introduce Americans to greater digital security, you can’t necessarily make them trust it. A new study from Yougov on behalf of United States email portal mail.com showed that 58% of Americans prefer passwords over biometric authentication methods like facial recognition or fingerprints when it comes to keeping personal data secure.
The study involved more than 1,000 Americans, all over the age of 18. Aside from the 58%, 42% of the survey respondents do not want companies to save and use their personal biometric data, and fewer than 1 in 10 participants were confident enough to consider it risk-free. While some degree of skepticism is understandable, this number seems like a complete mistrust.
As biometric methods like the fingerprint sensor become more prevalent as many smartphones allow users to access contents with a scan of the thumb, it’s still far less conventional than passwords. Of the survey participants, just 10% of them use fingerprint sensors, and 2% said that they use eye scans, facial, and voice recognition.
But why are Americans so doubtful of biometry? The survey shows that 42% worry about not being able to access their online accounts in case of a malfunction. One-third of the respondents cited biometric vulnerability as a concern, noting that criminals might be able to access or bypass biometric methods.
“The survey shows that biometric login methods are far from becoming a mass market,” said mail.com CEO Jan Oetjen. “In order to meet the concerns of users, providers have to fulfill high data protection requirements concerning the storage and use of biometrical data.”
Via Digital Trends
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