New Zealanders wary of wearable biometrics: Unisys

Unisys Security Index researchers looked at how comfortable New Zealanders are with biometrics and wearable computer devices. That’s the technical name for biometric hardware like health bands and other kit that measures medical data. It also covers smart watches and products like Google Glass.

When there’s a clear benefit, New Zealanders are happy with the devices.

Most New Zealanders support the idea of police or border security staff using face recognition body cameras to identify criminals or even terrorists on watch lists.

Likewise three-quarters of New Zealanders are happy when medical devices like pacemakers or blood sugar sensors report important changes back to a doctor.

Fingerprint scanning

About half of all New Zealand consumers are comfortable using a fingerprint scan to access a smart watch or authorise payment.

This is curious. Most recent Apple and Android phones include finger scanners. Phone makers promote the feature in advertisements and marketing. The products sell in huge quantities. This suggests a significant slice of people buying those products aren’t happy with fingerprint scans.

Around half of all New Zealanders are happy with airline staff wearing face recognition glasses to verify the identity of passengers as they board aircraft. Again, this makes sense, there’s a clear benefit from the technology speeding queues.

It seems a large segment of New Zealanders are still fiercely egalitarian. Only 24 percent support airline staff using the same glasses being used to identify VIP customers and provide them with personalised service. The same suspicions are evident in news there is low support for employers giving employees fitness trackers to track their movements or heart rate stress levels while in the workplace. Unisys says only 29 percent like the idea. This also suggests a mistrust of employers. Let’s face it, some have been known to abuse this kind of personal information in the past.

Biometrics

New Zealanders are positive about biometric devices that help health, safety and security. We don’t like devices that are part of someone’s marketing plan. New Zealand consumers do not consider a loyalty programme sufficient justification.

Mark Sabotti, director of healthcare & life sciences for Unisys Asia-Pacific, makes an interesting point on the biometric hardware results. He says consumers see a clear difference between, say, a doctor monitoring a condition and an insurance company collecting information. Even if that information means some people can save money.

Sabotti sees challenges ahead for health providers and others as the use of smart medical devices rises.

This is part of a series of sponsored posts about the 2017 Unisys Security Index New Zealand.