Some available biometric products include facial scans, voice prints, fingerprints, iris scans, retinal scans, hand prints, and key stroke dynamics. The cheapest devices offered by several different companies are fingerprint scanners, which easily convert fingerprints into digital form. Iris scanners, while complex and considerably more expensive, have also significantly improved. One company has a face recognition product that can identify a person with an acceptable image from hundreds of feet away. Other products, such as voice print and a product that monitors typing speed and cadence, are being enhanced as well.
Some products have minor glitches, however.
Many biometric companies are looking to link biometrics with smart cards, passwords, and other technologies. The results are changing law enforcement attitudes towards burglars as nonviolent types, and are now showing that burglary may be a good prediction of violent crime. The labeling of burglars as potential murderers and rapists has led to new efforts to combat burglary. With such results in Florida and Virginia, many states are now urged to add burglars to criminal DNA databases. According to the National Association of Counties, many county-run 911 emergency dispatch systems may fail as a result of the Year 2000 computer bug.