Australia - Somewhere in Perth's central business district is a building containing the names, ages, addresses, photographs and unique fingerprint codes of thousands of revellers who danced and drank at Sydney's Home nightclub last year.Home, in Darling Harbour, began trialling a biometric ID scanning entry system nine months ago. Patrons lined up before six large terminals to have their photo taken, and their driver's licence and right index fingerprint scanned. The information was copied and sent to Western Australia, where it is stored on a secured central database by the system developers.
While Home is the only NSW venue to use fingerprint technology at present - there are 13 nationwide - various forms of ID scanning are being quietly rolled out at other nightspots. (more)
"Sheila, if we didn't do this you might get carried off by an alien. It's for your own good, you know, not to mention limiting our liability."
It may take a decade or so, but once this generation has been privacy desensitized the concept of a business 'knowing the customer' as they enter the establishment will become more commonplace.
Personal security won't be the only reason. Think about the counter-shoplifting possibilities. When businesses network their customer knowledge, mobile shoplifting gangs will find it harder to operate.
The marketing mantra... "This enhances and customizes your experience with us."
