Read all the way to the end.  An executive for one of Australia's largest
banks declares:  "within five years every ATM in Australia will have iris
recognition technology".  What about those who don't have eyeballs to
scan or whose eyes are damaged?

Of course, early on, there is the logistical problem of having to do an
initial scan of one's iris, making it difficult to do iris only access
for brokerages and credit card companies that allow customers to access
cash at the ATM's of others but don't have a physical presence.

Kelly






The Sydney Morning Herald

    Iris recognition helps to prevent ID fraud

    February 27 2003

    Imagine a world where your eye is your passport, the key to your
apartment and even confirmation of your gym membership.

    For some Australians the task is simple, because this is their
reality.

    Identification fraud, the "boom crime" of the next decade, has
forced authorities and organizations to rethink traditional forms of
security. As a result, iris recognition technology is becoming
increasingly popular.

    While not perfect, it is the safest, cheapest, most user-friendly
and accurate form of identification available in the world today, a
Sydney conference on identity fraud was told.

    In Australia, iris technology is already being used by Qantas
Airlines, Sydney Airport, foreign embassies, some banks and TAFE
colleges, the Australian Protective Services, the Defence Department and
the Police Integrity Commission.

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    "Already it's being used for everything from apartment blocks in
Brisbane, where your eye is the key to your apartment ... to gymnasiums
where it is used to identify its membership," Argus Solutions strategic
development director John Grimes told the conference.

    When forming in the womb, the iris tears open, creating a unique
pattern that is consistent throughout a person's life from the age of
one year.

    "This is not a system that can identify you without your consent,"
Mr Grimes said.

    The technology does not keep a photo of your eye, but instead uses a
matching code allocated when a user knowingly registers with the system.
A user must look into a camera while a snapshot is taken and matched to
the corresponding code.

    "In over two billion attempts around the world, iris has never let
the wrong person through a secure door or into the wrong bank account,"
he said.

    "It is precisely this reason that countries around the world are now
developing iris as a crucial tool in border control."

    Frauds committed using stolen personal details or a false identity
are estimated to cost Australia $4 billion a year and account for more
than a quarter of all white-collar crime.

    Commander of the NSW Police Fraud Squad, Megan McGowan, said modern
technology had made it easier to fake an ID and use it for fraudulent
purposes.

    "In dealing with identity fraud we need to look at the
vulnerabilities in the systems which allow fraudsters to steal a
person's identity," Detective Superintendent McGowan said.

    Iris recognition would be one effective way of improving security.

    "There are a number of people in Canberra at the moment who have
legitimately lost every piece of personal identification but ... you
generally don't lose your eyeballs," she said.

    Mr Grimes predicted that Australia's financial institutions would
begin adopting iris technology at automatic teller machines within five
years.

    Today's conference coincided with the release of a guide aimed at
preventing identity fraud, compiled by the NSW Police Fraud Squad and
Macquarie Bank.

    "It's been reported that identity theft is the world's
fastest-growing form of fraud, growing more than 50 per cent annually in
Australia," the head of Macquarie Bank's banking and property group,
Bill Moss, said in a statement.

    "Experts say it will be the most serious white-collar crime in
Australia this year."

    "Modern technology has made it so much easier to fake a person's
identity and use it for fraudulent purposes," said Detective
Superintendent Megan McGowan, commander of the NSW Fraud Squad.

    "Unless we put preventive measures in place to tackle identity fraud
then we are going to continue to play catch-up with the criminals."

    "It is predicted that within five years every ATM in Australia will
have iris recognition technology," Mr Moss said.


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