Forget about fingerprint IDs, let alone laminated cards bearing photos and bar codes. Iris recognition is one of the new technologies college campuses are pursuing to verify students' identity while moving them quickly through checkpoints. At the University of Georgia, which has used some form of biometric authentication since the 1970s, students this fall will be able to enroll in a system where their iris gets them into dining halls. Other emerging campus-security technologies include "beacons" — low-energy Bluetooth emitters that can identify students carrying smartphones and other Bluetooth-enabled devices.
By and large, college students are comfortable with the technologies, as they are already accustomed to fingerprint scans and Bluetooth connections through their smartphones. Those with privacy concerns are assured that the iris cameras, along with hand-geometry readers some schools have long used, aren't scanners but "are simply taking a picture and ending up with a mathematical equation that grants you entry."
Inside Higher Ed (05/09/17)
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