BofA fingerprinting program raising controversy
27 July, 2009
category: Biometrics
When cashing a Bank of America check at one of its branches, non-bank members are required to submit a fingerprint sample to complete the transaction, according to a Nashua Telegraph article.
Until recently, the bank had been denying the practice, however, they have recently admitted to the required submitting of the fingerprints which are stored in a database. Despite the admission of the program, officials have not yet divulged where the database is kept, what purpose the samples are for or who has access to the database.
Due to the now public admittance, law makers and privacy advocates have put together a bill in New Hampshire to outlaw the practice over fears of the usage and security of the fingerprint samples.
While Bank of America officials contend that the purpose of the program is to deter check fraudsters and assist law enforcement in apprehending accused fraudsters, privacy advocates and other organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union have looked at such programs as a potential cause for much more harm than good.
Read the full story here.