The advent of fingerprint scanners such as SafeChx for authentication purposes at hospitals is a divisive issue, with some arguing it prevents fraud and patient confusion while others believe it has serious privacy implications, KQED Science reports. “Many hospitals were using first name and date of birth to identify patients,” said SafeChx co-creator, Sean Lane. “That simply wasn’t good enough.” The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Lee Tien counters that the finger scanner “is no better than a password,” the report states, and that once stolen or compromised, it’s impossible to remedy. “I can’t change my fingerprints. Or iris. Or anything else,” Tien said.
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