3 ms·
> Fingerprinting is treated like the internet's dirty secret, but it's a technology that could be used in different ways. I would prefer this to any of biometri
by wolfgke 9y ago
> Fingerprinting is treated like the internet's dirty secret, but it's a technology that could be used in different ways. I would prefer this to any of biometric authentication schemes that have been peddled as "passwordless."
Fingerprints (and other biometric data) is the analogue of a (public) username and not the analogue to passwords:
> http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2013/10/fingerprints-are-user-names-not.html http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2013/10/fingerprints-are-user...
HN discussion:
> https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8496797 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8496797
So if you replace entering your username by a fingerprint, retinal scan, ... this is perfectly fine from a security perspective (though IMHO a really bad idea from a privacy perspective). On the other hand using biometric data as replacement for passwords is from a security perspective an anti-pattern.
- ssivark 9y agotboyd47 is talking about browser/device fingerprinting, not physical fingerprints. Such fingerprints are usually attached to device rather than the specific account, but if we assume that a user needs a secure password/login to access the device, it might be a workable proxy. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_fingerprint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Device_fingerprint [2]: https://panopticlick.eff.org/ https://panopticlick.eff.org/
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- lovemenot 9y agoThis reply seems to have missed the point of its parent and just picked up on the word fingerprint in a different context. I like the parent's overall point, but I suspect its business model is not viable. Any service that helps the user against the publisher's interests will need to be funded through charging the consumer. Not easy these days.
- wolfgke 9y ago> This reply seems to have missed the point of its parent and just picked up on the word fingerprint in a different context. I am aware that "fingerprint" has different meanings, but the grandparent explicitly talked of biometric authentication (e.g. physical fingerprints) in his last sentence: > I would prefer this to any of biometric authentication schemes that have been peddled as "passwordless." This is what I was referring to.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- tboyd47 9y agoWhy assume it is against publishers' interests for people to control how they expose their own identity? Advertisers, sure, but publishers? I see privacy as being more orthogonal to their interests than directly against them. Nevertheless, you're probably right about the business model. I was piggybacking on the idealism of the article we're commenting on. It's fun to just discuss possible futures without worrying about viability once in a while.
- lovemenot 9y agoAgreed. I ought not to have assumed the status quo must prevail. Indeed, hopefully a viable solution to the Publisher's Dilemma will be found.