Use of Biometrics in Transportation
1st Year Student, Bachelor of Business Management, Singapore
Management University
Executive Summary
The
advancement and use of technology in our fast-paced and increasingly
overcrowded world plays a major role in helping us alleviate the psychological
and social impacts created by this myriad.
This paper examines
the development and the increased use of biometrics in society, particularly in
the area of fingerprint technology in all forms of transportation today, which
includes air, rail, road and water. The paper examines the advantages,
disadvantages and conceivability of this service in the future and how it is
able to provide technological sustainability for future generations.
1. Introduction
As countries become industrialized and developed, they tend
to become more fast-paced. Countries are considered to be fast-paced when being
on time for appointments and being quick to get down to business, these
considerations become a social norm. Technology has helped people keep up with
their schedule with the advancement of different forms of communication, more
advanced transportation and on-the-go time planning.
Transportation refers to the transfer and repositioning of
people, animals and objects from one place to another. There are many modes of
transportation today, which include road, air, sea, rail, cable and pipeline.
Passenger transportation may be public or private. As the world becomes more
fast-paced, the importance and reliance that people have on transportation
subsequently increases. The peoples’ choice on modes of transportation must be
able to relocate them and send their deliveries from one place to another
punctually. The advancement of transportation in the recent years has greatly
benefitted people by helping them reach places and transport deliveries on
time.
However, the advancement of transportation could sometimes
also be detrimental instead of beneficial to people. With the continuous
increase in human population, the demand for private transportation and users
of public transportation has increased over the years. This has brought about
major environmental and social issues around the world. Other than global
warming, this also caused an increase in demand for resources needed to build
and operate private and public transports. This includes paper needed from
trees for airplane, ship, or train tickets, metals needed to make car keys,
bus tokens and the different transport vehicles.
The term “biometrics” is derived from the Greek words “bio”
(life) and “metrics” (to measure). With that, biometrics is the study and
application of analyzing biological data (Smith, 2006). Biometrics may also be referred
to as technologies that measure and analyze human body characteristics, such as
DNA, fingerprints, eye retinas and irises for authentication purposes (Rouse,
2008).
This paper examines the combination of the use of biometrics
in different modes of transportation. Till this day, fingerprint biometrics has
been involved in some modes of transportation, such as private, air and sea.
This paper will first discuss the evolution of biometrics and transportation
overtime. It next examines the current situation that we are in now, with some
examples of the uses of biometrics in our everyday lives, the current
technology used in transportation, and both of its impacts on society. It also
addresses pressing and pertinent issues that we face today,
particularly in the areas of biometrics and transportation. The main crux of
this paper will then go on to explain and evaluate the greater use of
biometrics in transportation. It will discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of the combination of these ideas, and demonstrate a cost-benefit evaluation to
determine if such measures can be adopted in the near future. Finally, this
paper will predict and synthesize the impacts of the increased use of
biometrics in transportation today.
The limitations of this paper include the lack of
statistical evidence and response for the increased use of biometrics in
transportation. This is due to the fact that such methods have never been
adopted before, and it is difficult to predict a certain and definite impact that
such methods have on society. Also, this paper is unable to address the same
concept for all the countries around the world. This is because different
countries around the world with different levels of development have differing
interests and views for the increased use of fingerprint technology in the
much-used private and public transportation today. Nevertheless, the author
has, to the best of her ability and knowledge; provide a fair and impartial
analysis, evaluation and understanding throughout the paper, especially in the
section on future considerations.
2. Historical
Perspectives
2.1 History of transportation
Humans’ first means of transportation was walking and
swimming. The domestication of animals for transportation occurred from 4000 to
3000 BC (Lambert, 2013). This allowed people to transfer the burden of loads
and long travelling durations to these animals. Horses, camels and donkeys were
the first few most significant animals that allowed for the greatest
advancements of civilization through migration and trade (McGrath,
n.d). In 3500BC, the first wheel on carts was invented (Bellis,
n.d.) and in 3100BC, water transports such as the first sailing
vessels were created in Egypt. By 2700BC, the Egyptians were using wooden ships
for trade and barter by sea.
The Roman Empire took pride of and was well known for the
network of roads they have built. These roads were built for the main purposes
of allowing the army to move from one empire to another easily and for messages
and orders to be sent quickly. The Romans also built large merchant ships
called cortia, which was able to transport 10,000 tons of cargo at an instance
(Lambert, n.d.).
After the fall of Rome, transportation became primitive
again. During the Tudor period, roads were merely dirt tracks, as horses were
the main mode of transportation, one would be lucky to be able to travel 50-60
kilometers per day.
During the late Tudor times, coaches began to develop as an
approach to road maintenance. The most common design is the berlin coach, which
was designed in 1660. There is a door on each side with blinds above it, and
the coach can sit four people facing each other in pairs. In 1680, the blinds
were replaced with glass windows to keep out weather. In the late 17th
century, the gigs were invented. A gig is a light, two-wheeled sprung cart
pulled by a human or a horse. European capitals often hail sedan chairs and are
carried elegantly by humans (Gascoigne, 2001). In the 18th century,
goods were often transported by packhorse. It was only in 1759,
when Francis Egerton, the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, built the
Bridgewater Canal to transport coal from his mines to the industrial areas of
Manchester. The Bridgewater Canal was a role model for future bridges to be
built, and played a major role in the industrial revolution by making the
transportation of goods cheaper.
During the early 19th century, transportation of
humans and goods were very expensive, particularly in the US. It took four days
to go from New York to Boston, and the cost of shipping a ton within the United
States was the same as shipping goods of the same weight to England. Later in
the 19th century, water transport and railways revolutionized
transport. By 1820, the use of steamboats was also increasingly common in the
United States and in England. With the advancement of sea transportation,
lifeboats became increasingly common. The first major railway was from
Liverpool to Manchester, which opened in 1830. By the 1860s, there were also
many railroads and some 31,000 miles of track laid in the United States. The first
underground railway of the world was built in London in 1863 where steam
locomotives pulled the carriages (Mabry, n.d.). In 1885, Karl Benz invented the
first car (Bellis, n.d.). From 1890-1900, the first underground trains began
running. The London Metropolitan Railway and Paris Metro opened within that
period. In the 1880s, the first cars and bicycles were made. It was quickly
developed with the invention of the electric car heater, which also replaced
the steam in sail with steam turbines. The 19th century also saw the
first manned flight by the Wright brothers. They created the first successful
airplane in Orville on 17th December 1903. It flew 120 feet above
ground for 12 seconds at 6.8 mph.
The 20th century saw a huge leap in the use of
cars around the world. As such, many improvements were made to road
transportation such as automatic wipers, three-point seat belts for cars, and
the invention of electric traffic lights, the first breathalyzer, the first
‘double yellow lines’ and parking meters for road safety and regulations. This
is to ensure greater safety and regulation on the road in response to the
increase of road users. Motorbuses and trolley buses were also replaced by the
re-introduction of light railways. Foreign holidays only became common in 1960.
The Boeing 747, a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport aircraft
was introduced in 1970. Following that, the Airbus A380 was introduced in 2005
as a double-deck commercial jet airliner.
2.2 History of biometrics
Since the beginning of civilization, humans have been using
facial features for recognition and identification. Due to the heightening need
for formal recognition and increasing populations, people started using
anthropometric data for identification. Anthropometric data refers to the study
and record of the human body and its gestures (Ryan, 2001-2011).
By the late 1800s, a mechanism, which involved the use of
fingerprint indexing, was created. It was able to retrieve previous records,
and became a viable method of recognition and identification. Later, in India,
Edward Henry invented the Henry Classification System. It uses numbers and
alphabets to stratify fingerprint patterns by treating the ten fingers as
different units. This recognition method was largely used in English-speaking
countries then. It was not until the late twentieth century where biometric
systems began to emerge alongside the emergence of information systems.
3. Current
Situation
3.1 Current use of transportation
Transportation is divided into two types – private and
public. Private transport is not available to the general public. Examples of
motorized private transport such as cars, motorcycles, vans, lorries and
private jets.
As opposed to private transport, public transport is to
provide people a high quality service at a low cost. However, public transport
also faces various social issues such as safety, road and human congestion and
mobility.
The various modes of transportation are air, rail, road and
water, and these different forms of transportation have different forms of
entry and varying security levels.
3.1.1 Air
The different types of air transport consist of airplanes,
helicopters, parachuting, and airbuses. Some are private, while others are for
commercial use. Namely, the aviation industry consists of passengers, the crew,
and a very flight schedule. Passengers usually wish to be transported between large
miles and distant destinations based on their desired time and date. The flight
crew operates the aircraft and provides service to the passengers. The flight
schedule then refers to the airport schedule, crew schedule and the passengers’
schedule. The flight schedule is important to meet the demands of the
passengers (Barnhart & Laporte, 2007). The airport is also considered to be
one of the busiest places in the world,
working round the clock. One of the busiest airports in the America is the
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), which hosted a large
number of 95,462,867 passengers in 2012 (Ewalt, 2013).
In the past, passengers of commercial air travel have to
present many handling documents to get through airport security, such as
boarding passes and passports. Although these procedures help maintain high
security levels, these processes take up a lot of the passengers’ time,
requiring them to reach the airport a few hours before departure. However, in
the years following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many airports around the world
have heightened security measures, and these measures have also helped passengers
save time and paperwork. Many airports today are turning to the area of
biometric scanning, which helps identify people according to their physical
characteristics. Biometric scanning is a more accurate method of identification
as compared to hard copy passports.
Heathrow Airport, London, also conducted a test for their
new scheme – Passenger Authentication Scanning System (PASS) that uses infrared
facial recognition biometrics to capture the passenger’s data. It does not
require a physical boarding pass and instead, they simply have to pass through
a ‘self-boarding’ gate through an electronic barrier, which takes an infrared
scan of their face, which is crosschecked and confirmed with their data. This
eliminates the time that passengers today usually waste when their facial
features are checked by airport security staff, and this is also
environmentally friendly, because people no longer have to print numerous
papers for hard copy identity verification (Whitehead, 2013).
3.1.2 Rail
A railway can be divided into two portions. Its first
portion refers to the parts with are not fixed such as locomotives, passenger
carrying coaches, and the freight carrying vehicles. On the other hand, the
parts that are stationary refer to its infrastructure such as the tracks and
stations.
The rail has become more advanced and has shifted from
mechanical means, to the use of electronic and computerized system today.
Signaling systems used to control the flow of rail traffic may be fixed or
moving variety (Agunloye & Oduwaye, 2010). The methods used for entrance to
rail stations have also changed overtime from the use of paper boarding passes
or tokens to the current plastic cards or e-tickets.
The rail also follows a fixed schedule to ensure a smooth
flow of rail traffic. Passengers will buy tickets, either at the station or
online, and they will usually be asked to board the rail a few minutes before the
rail depart from the station or terminal.
However, the number of entrances and ridership on rail
transport far exceeds air travel, which makes it difficult to implement high
security technology in rail stations. Also, since trains operate on a tight schedule,
the large crowd will render high security systems obsolete and a waste of time
for commuters. With that, there were almost 200 terrorist attacks on trains and
rail-related transportation from 1998-2003. These attacks have also caused many
deaths around the world.
To manage the risk to passenger rail and to attempt to make
rail a safer mode of travelling, governments in many countries have implemented
different strategies such as hiring more police officers for patrol, baggage
screening, and the installation of security cameras to tighten security in rail
stations. For example, officers from the Singapore Police Force are often seen
patrolling around the different Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) stations around
Singapore.
However, such measures have not been very effective in
ensuring safety in rail transportation. The 2004 Madrid train bombings killed
almost 200 people. This showed that an increase in security is needed in rail
transportation around the world.
3.1.3 Road
Road transportation can also be divided into private and
public, and is also suitable for the transportation of goods and
passengers. There are many forms of road
transport such as cars, buses, motorcycles, vans and lorries.
Private road transportation is generally very safe and personal,
where vehicle owners use physical keys or infrared sensors to unlock the car,
or to start the engine. Newer cars today, especially producers of hybrid cars
are switching to the system of smart keys. With smart keys, the car doors
unlock automatically as the driver walks towards it. In the car, there will
also be an “engine smart” button that gets the car going without the need to
physically turn the key, as long as the key is near to the car. However, many
may argue that “smart keys” are generally less safe as compared to the usual
keys as hackers would eventually be able to override these new technologies.(George,
n.d.).
On the other hand, public road transport is shared and used
by the general public. Various countries have their own ways of entrance to
public road transport, such as taxis and buses. People can easily flag taxis.
On the contrary, entrance to public buses would sometimes require coins,
tokens, concession or transport cards.
3.1.4 Waters
Most islands around the world depend on a river, canal, or
harbor as part of their transportation infrastructure. Maritime transportation
covers a wide area of land, and thus requires large cooperation among
governments. Maritime security concerns include, piracy and trade. Efforts have
been made to ensure high levels of maritime security (Brownlee & Ken,
2013).
The USA enacted the Maritime Transportation Security act
(MTSA) in 2002, which aims to improve the protection of maritime security. It
includes vulnerability tests on vessels, assessments on the effectiveness of security
efforts, and most importantly biometric identification to restrict access to
secure areas to only authorized workers.
3.2 Current use of biometrics in different aspects
Biometric technologies are a better alternative to
traditional authentication methods used before. They are more precise, are
difficult to hack, and do not require people to carry around secure devices or
documents for authentication (Ngugi et al, 2011).
3.2.1 Use for Commercial Purposes
Biometrics is used in airport alongside hard copy passports
for identification. Most airports implement the two-tier security system, which
reads the user’s passport, and verifies it with a fingerprint scan. This
process demonstrates high level of efficiency as it saves the passengers’ time
with a faster verification process, and also it
does not require the passenger to prepare and carry numerous documents when
going for a flight. It also upholds the high levels of security needed in
airport customs as it easily recognizes a traveller with fake passport or
travel documents.
Biometric technology is also used in the banking and finance
industry. It acts in conjunction with the user’s PIN to securely recognize the
identity of the owner of the bank account.
Biometrics is also commonly used in justice and law
solutions. As widely exemplified on television shows, biometrics, particularly
fingerprint technology is very often used in a crime scene, and to identity
suspects of a crime after they are compared to the database for identification.
Lastly, biometrics, particularly fingerprint biometrics, is
also widely used for attendance taking and time clock-ins. Such technology is
become more widely used in schools and workplaces. In such places, when the
students or employees scan their fingerprint, the system will recognize the
identity of the user and the time that they clock in and clock out. This
eliminates the use of hard copy attendance sheets in schools, and also helps companies
identify the employee’s working hours to determine paychecks.
3.2.2 Personal Uses
Families are always looking for the most secure keys to
prevent theft in their homes. Biometric technology can also be made more
personalized, where people install fingerprint or biometric locks for their
houses. This provides an alternative to the standard and usual keys for
entrance to one’s residential area. When the owner of the house forgets his/her
keys to the house, these fingerprint locks will prevent panic among them.
Biometrics used in cars can also recognize the identity of the owner,
automatically changing the car settings to the users’ most frequent conditions.
Biometrics also assists logical access control, which is the
access to various electronic devices, which authorizes entry to specified data
and information. For example, many laptops today provide fingerprint scanning
as a form of authorization and alternative to the standard use of username and
passwords.
Also, the newly released iPhone 5S introduces fingerprint
technology to the popular smartphone, which enables the owner of the phone to
access data without having to slide or enter their password on the phone.
3.3 Advantages of the use of biometrics
Biometric characteristics are unique to an individual, and are
also considered to be one of the most secure methods of safekeeping today
(Weerakkody & Niranjala, 2005). Also, people understand that such forms of authentication
can provide a more trustworthy identity verification than some thing “you have”,
such as a bank card or a PIN alone (Kauffman, 2011).
There are many people in the world today who are without
identity. In many developing countries, many poor people do not even have personal
documents. In 2000, a research conducted by UNICEF calculated that 50 million
babies were not registered at birth, and thus did not have access to their own
rights. With such an ongoing situation, the scheme based on birth registration
and a passport is rendered useless, and thus biometric technology provides a
viable alternative to such a problem.
Traditional methods of the use of identification numbers are
no longer dependable due to the spread of knowledge and advancement of
technology, and thus biometric technology is a viable solution to such
situations, for example the transfer of money. This is because it provides
accurate proof of identity. Biometric technology is extremely geared towards
surveillance, which ensures high levels of security when it is put to use
(Emilio, Andrew, 2012). The Identity Theft resource Center conducted a survey
in 2008 and found out that 73% of the surveyors claimed that they were involved
in financial crime due to identity falsification. Also, within the UK in 2007,
there was a 25% increase in fraudulent misuse of credit and debit card
(Kauffman, 2011).
The use of biometrics is also common in crime detection via
face or fingerprint scans. It has helped governments recognize prime suspects
for certain crimes (Weerakkody &
Niranjala, 2005). Facial recognition is a common method of identifying prime
suspects. One of the most pertinent examples of the use of biometrics to
resolve crimes is during the 2001 Super Bowl, where facial biometrics were used
to catch 19 wanted criminals. These criminals’ faces matched a database created
by Tampa police, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI
(Chachere, 2013).
Biometric technology is the most likely candidate for a
global identification system in this technological age. It creates global
identification, which is very necessary for communications and travel (Emilio
& Andrew, 2012). Biometrics are also difficult to fake or forge as it is
very personal, and it is almost impossible to put someone else’s fingerprint on
your own finger (Schneier & Bruce, 1999).
The installment of biometric technology for commercial use
requires large sums of investment. However, based on a cost-benefit analysis,
the use of biometric technology in places that require high security such as
airports is considered a necessary, and these industries would not hesitate to
invest and lay down large sums of money for such technology. On the other hand,
the use of biometrics on a personal level such as homes and cars are not
exactly necessary, and would constitute a ‘want’ instead of a ‘need’ as the
cost outweighs the benefit (Emilio & Andrew, 2012).
3.4 Disadvantages of the use of biometrics
A common opinion of the people is that biometric technology
for the use of information is very intrusive and is highly undignified. This is
because people often associate ‘fingerprint technology’ to criminality, and the
typical mentality of the people is that the main purpose of biometrics is closely
linked to the well-known imagination of crime detection. However, it must be
known that there is no connection between biometrics and criminality.
Also, identification is not transparent in today’s world,
such that people do not know who has identified them, or when they have been
identified, and this may be harmful to identified parties (Emilio & Andrew,
2012). In short, biometrics can help an unknown party identify others’
confidential information without the owner’s consent. The abuse of such
information may lead to undesirable situations such as identification theft. (Ngugi
et al, 2011)
The quality of biometrics in its commercial use is less
accurate and adequate as compared to laboratory experiments and tests. This is
due to the environment of the use of such biometrics technology, such as
background noises and the quality of scans (Ngugi et al, 2011). At the same
time, some biometric systems can easily fail when they are being tampered with,
or when they fail to recognize matching DNA or characteristics. False
acceptances for hackers and false rejections for actual users can render these
biometric systems faulty. Such simple systems are easy to steal and hack into.
Biometric technology is also rendered useless when they
fail. This is because professional assistance is needed for the system to
start-up again. This may affect many commercial situations such as schools and
workplace, which use this technology for attendance taking, or even personal
situations where one is restricted access to their own homes (Schneier &
Bruce, 1999).
4. Key Ideas
The key idea of this paper highlights the interaction between
the uses of biometrics in different forms of transportation today. Other than
the use of fingerprint biometrics in airports or private cars, the use of such
technology can also be used for more forms of public transportation. Different
forms of transportation have varying levels of feasibility in the use of
biometrics. There are also different forms of impacts caused by this form of
technology and its uses on transportation.
4.1 Use of Biometrics in Air Transportation
The use of biometrics is already in use in air
transportation in many airports such as in Singapore, USA and London, and
should continue to be in operation. This upholds the high levels of security,
which is highly necessary in airports. In particular, the general public also
very well receives the use of the two-tier security system, as it is convenient
and user-friendly for the travellers. The use of biometrics in airports can be
further improved by analyzing other characteristics of an individual, such as
eye retinas and irises.
4.2 Use of Biometrics in Public Rail and Buses
The use of biometrics can also be used in public interstate
rail by following the two-tier security used in airports. Although the volume
of people taking rail daily far exceeds the number of people travelling via
air, the implementation of such form of technology is still necessary. Likewise
of air transportation, high security levels are needed in rail transport as
large numbers of cargo and commuters travel via rail, and the implementation of
such form of technology prevents passengers from faking travel documents and
identification, ensuring higher security levels in rail transport.
In public rails that travel a shorter distance, such as
state rails, the use of fingerprint biometrics is sufficient for the people.
This works by the people using their fingerprint to enter the train gantry,
instead of using tokens or cards that are prevalent today. Such forms of
technology can ensure convenience for the passengers, and is also easy to use. The
use of fingerprint biometrics for public train transport is also
environmentally friendly, as there is no need for the train industry to
continue to create large numbers of tokens or cards for use. With the
implementation of fingerprint technology for state rail, commuters’ ages are
easily detected and recorded, and they are charged with the fares according to
their ages. Machines can also be created to allow people to top-up values
cumulated for the use of transportation. This form of technology can also be
used for state buses, and people no longer need to carry cards or tokens to
ride the public transport around town. People would no longer have to fish
through transportation tokens or cards through their bags, especially when they
are in a rush.
This is an improvement to the new ‘Sesame Ring’ introduced
to help people get through transportation in a more convenient method via
wearable technology. The ‘Sesame Ring’ enables people to tap the ring at train
or bus gantries, and allow easy top-up and nearby machines. However, unlike the
‘Sesame Ring’, bus and train tokens or cards, the use of fingerprint technology
for transportation does not require people to carry any form of device with
them anymore.
4.2.1 Feasibility of the use of Biometrics in Public Rail
and Buses
The use of biometrics in public rail and buses makes
transportation more personal. People no longer need to carry around cards,
tokens, or even the Sesame Ring when they take public transport. This makes
transportation via public rail or bus safer as people can no longer use others’
transportation cards for their own use.
However, the change from the use of tokens and cards for
public transport to the use of biometrics is a whole new method for
transportation. This means that commuters must now move away from what they
have been using and are familiar with (tokens and cards) and learn this new
form of entry to public rails and buses. This may not be well received by some
groups of people, such as elderly as they would be less inclined to the
advances of technology and would usually prefer to use traditional and
long-standing methods instead.
The use of biometrics on public buses may also be
problematic, especially when technical glitch occurs. When technical problems
occur, passengers take a longer time to board and leave the bus, and this
delays the schedule of the buses. Furthermore, the more time the bus spends
stationary on the road; it may cause unnecessary congestion on the road. This
is a grave problem especially during peak hours.
It must also be recognized that such shift from cards to
fingerprints make the people even more reliant on technology. In a situation
where a commuter’s fingerprints are difficult to recognize, or a technical
glitch occurs, it slows down the time people take to travel. This may cause
much inconvenience on their schedule. For such cases, methods of tokens and cards
should be retained as back up lest there is a technical problem as a temporary
solution and alternative to the problem. This problem is aggravated in
fast-paced societies such as Japan and Singapore.
In state rails, it may be rendered unnecessary for such
forms of technology to be implemented because state rails do not need such high
levels of security. Furthermore, since state rails are used by many people
daily, following a cost-benefit analysis, it is more beneficial to use tokens
or cards for such form of transportation for its fast-pace and convenience.
Lastly, it may also become a hassle for tourists of a
country, as they would need to register their fingerprint in the transportation
system for them to take the public transport only for a certain period of time
when they are in the country. This makes the use of cards or tokens for
transportation a more viable and user-friendly system as compared to the use of
fingerprint technology.
4.3 Use of Biometrics in Water Transportation
Biometrics can also be used for the security of water
transport by installing such forms of technology at the entrance of the boat to
control and record different people entering the boat. It can also be used to
accept or deny different peoples’ entry to the boat. This is highly feasible
for big ships where large events are held, and where there are important guests
and attendees.
4.3.1 Feasibility of the use of Biometrics In Water
Transportation
It is less feasible to use fingerprint technology for water
transportation, as compared to the other forms of transportations mentioned
above. This is because water transportation covers a very wide area of land,
and it is difficult to record large numbers of users and passengers of numerous
boats and ships in the world as their databases may be of such a wide range.
Also, some forms of water transportation that is still
present today are such as wooden boats known as sampans. It is difficult to
introduce such forms of technology on these boats, as they may not possess the
necessary technical potential needed to install biometrics on the boat.
The machinery of biometric technology may not be water
resistant, and since water is high prevalent among water transportation, the
implementation of biometric technology on water transportation may not be
feasible and long lasting lest water enters the machine, causing technical
glitch.
Therefore, the use of fingerprint technology should not be
implemented on water technology; as such method is not viable to enhance water
security. Other methods such as patrol and building more lighthouses should be
implemented to improve water transportation as a safer mode of movement.
5. Future
Considerations
5.1 Possible Improvements to the use of Biometrics on
Transportation
A good biometric system should conform to ethical and social
means, where one’s privacy, rights and data is protected.
One of the methods to build public confidence in the use of
biometrics technology is to let them gain the exposure and trust needed for the
use of such technology. Trust is very important in the adoption of new
technologies. People can also better accept such forms of biometric technology
by providing certain services for them, such as security for their personal
belongings and assets being held in the biometric system.
Familiarity in time and trust is important for people to
accept the use of biometric technology in everyday lives. One such case study
is the emergence of online shopping. When online shopping first came around,
people were afraid of the environment and contemplated the safety of releasing
their personal information online. After awhile, more people starting online
shopping, and people started to feel more comfortable to engage in online
shopping. Therefore, time and confidence may be needed before people become
receptive and accept this new form of technology.
5.2 Social Impacts
The use of biometrics in transportation ultimately increases
peoples’ reliance on technology today. If there is a technological breakdown or
a glitch, people will panic and fluster as it may affect their individual
schedules or plans. People will feel lost when such daily habits fail them.
This may cause unrest among the people. If these technological glitches happen
frequently, there may be a huge social uproar among both citizens and netizens.
This causes duress and instability in the country, which questions the
government’s decisions and efficiency. For example in Singapore, the frequent
breakdown of the Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) saw many Singaporeans complaining
about the efficiency and choices of resource allocation by the government.
As biometrics is still considered a budding and young form
of advanced technology, there are minimal chances of hacking of such systems
today. Overtime, when experts familiarize themselves with this form of
technology, they may be able to set up codes that could hack the system. This
may cause much duress, as forging identity is a serious crime. This may also
question the effectiveness of all advanced form of security systems put in
place today, and people will not be able to trust the security approaches
anymore.
5.3 Economic Impacts
The cost of installing biometrics in transportation requires
large investment from transportation firms. The change from a token-card
transportation system to a biometric transportation system means a reduction in
costs of cards and tokens and an increase in costs of technology installation
and maintenance. A cost-benefit analysis must be weighed to determine of such
investments are necessary for different modes of transportation. The cost of
maintaining the system and constant improvement of the technology in the long
run must also be considered to the cost of installing such forms of technology.
5.4 Environmental Impacts
The shift from the use of tokens and cards to biometric
technology is beneficial for the environment as it requires less use of papers
from tree barks to be created. However, considering that tokens and cards must
still be put in place for emergency purposes and also for tourist use, it may
not be environmentally friendly after all.
6. Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many different advantages and
disadvantages to the use of biometrics in everyday life, specifically in the
use of transportation. The use of fingerprint technology for the use of
transportation can be beneficial to some modes of transportation, such as rail
and road. However, the use of such technology may not be viable and suitable in
state-rail, bus and water transportation. There must also be a cost-benefit
analysis in individual countries if such a technology will advance or hinder
society. Different societies of different paces of life respond differently to
this new change or technology. Lastly, the use of fingerprint technology as a
form of biometrics takes time to be well received by the general public.
Therefore, the use of fingerprint technology can be possible in the future, but
it will not succeed easily without the public’s support.
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