Perhaps more sinister is the fact that iris scanning technology has advanced to the point where an iris can be scanned from up to a metre away, so long as the target's eyes are open. This could be used to identify favorite customers, or even undesirable customers as they walk into a shop. Apparently wearing colored contact lenses will render the scan useless but unless some new laws are passed, people may not even have a choice about where their biometric information ends up. Of course, there are some huge advantages to biometrics. Number one is that users no longer have to remember anything.
Passwords are a good system, provided good passwords are chosen.
They rarely are. Users hate having to remember complex passwords and will often choose a simple password. They then go on to use this poor password on different systems, further compromising security. Users never have to remember their biometric information and, unlike a smartcard, they can't leave it lying about or easily give it to someone else. And what about security.