The Los Angeles Times reports that 24 Hour Fitness gyms are installing fingerprint readers to identify members and getting rid of membership ID cards. Anyone who opts out of the fingerprint identification system can show government-issued photo ID cards to enter the gyms. (Last week, I posted on fingerprint scanners that the Montgomery County Department of Recreation plans to begin using this fall.)

With gym memberships down across the fitness industry, the giant 24 Hour Fitness chain is taking a new cost-cutting approach to identifying its gym members — fingerprints.

The 428-gym chain, which issued more than 1 million plastic membership cards and key ring IDs last year, is converting to a system that identifies members by scanning the individual ridges on fingertips. [...]

Discontented customers have used Web forums and blogs to sound off against it, and filed grievances with privacy advocacy organizations. Read more »

Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported on a new biometric identification system that the Montgomery County Department of Recreation plans to begin using this fall. This week, I’m quoted in the Washington Examiner about the privacy implications of creating a biometric database to keep track of entry into recreation and senior centers in Maryland.

Gizmodo reports on privacy problems with a new program in Leon, Mexico, which will place iris scanners in public to track people as they go about their daily lives. (Gizmodo’s analyzing a Fast Company Fast Company.) Supporters of the iris scanning systems compare them to “digital scarlet letters,” which would distinguish criminals from the innocent.

Imagine a public eye-scanner that can identify 50 people per minute, in motion. Now imagine the government installed these scanner systems all across an entire city. Or don’t imagine it, because it’s already happening, right now.

Leon, Mexico, is doing exactly that, installing real-time iris scanners from biometrics research and development firm Global Rainmakers Inc. These retinal scanners don’t require people to stop and put their eyes in front of a camera. They work in real time, as people walk [...] Read more »

The Department of Homeland Security’s Privacy Office has released a new privacy impact assessment (PIA) concerning the agency’s study of a type of biometric identification — iris recognition. From the privacy impact assessment (pdf) on “Iris and Face Technology Demonstration and Evaluation.”

As part of its Multi-Modal Biometrics Projects, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are investigating iris recognition as a promising biometric modality that may become suitable to support DHS operations in the near future. [...]

The purpose of this evaluation of iris recognition technologies is to conduct field trials/studies of iris camera prototypes under conditions and environments of relevance (e.g., humidity levels, amount of sunlight, etc) to DHS operational users to assess the viability of the technology and its potential operational effectiveness in support of DHS operations. S&T is conducting a PIA because biometric information is being collected from individuals detained in an operational setting. [...] Read more »

The Washington Post reports on a new biometric identification system that the Montgomery County Department of Recreation plans to begin using this fall. County officials are making this change without holding any public information meetings, a department spokeswoman said; the new biometric ID system was announced in the Montgomery County Summer Guide for Recreation and Parks Programs.

Beginning in the fall, county officials plan to replace the plastic cards customers use to gain access to pools, weight rooms and community center programs at the Department of Recreation’s 33 facilities with biometric finger vein scanners. [...]

The scanners, which resemble a computer mouse, create a unique code for each person. The devices read vein patterns by reacting with hemoglobin in blood, said Michael Trader, president of Atlanta-based M2SYS Technology, a vendor of the scanners. Read more »

The Telegraph reports on schools in the United Kingdom and their security programs, which include surveillance of students. The story focuses on a study released in the journal “Surveillance and Society.”

Researchers found the widespread use of CCTV, ID cards, electronic registration systems, fob-controlled gates and fingerprint technology as schools attempt to crackdown on troublemakers.

Staff at one comprehensive patrolled corridors and playgrounds with radios to make sure children behaved at lunchtimes, while teachers at a private school used technology to spy on children’s computer and internet use.

Researchers suggested that the sheer scale of surveillance was fuelling paranoia among many pupils. [...] Read more »