Culture & biometrics: regional differences in the perception of biometric authentication technologies

Riley, Chris W; Buckner, Kathy; Johnson, Graham; Benyon, David

Abstract

Previous research has identified user concerns about biometric authentication technology, but most of this research has been conducted in European contexts. There is a lack of research that has investigated attitudes towards biometric technology in other cultures. To address this issue, data from India, South Africa and the United Kingdom were collected and compared. Cross-cultural attitudinal differences were seen, with Indian respondents viewing biometrics most positively while respondents from the United Kingdom were the least likely to have a positive opinion about biometrics. Multiple barriers to the acceptance of biometric technology were identified with data security and health and safety fears having the greatest overall impact on respondents’ attitudes towards biometrics. The results of this investigation are discussed with reference to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and theories of technology acceptance. It is argued that contextual issues specific to each country provide a better explanation of the results than existing theories based on Hofstede’s model. We conclude that cultural differences have an impact on the way biometric systems will be used and argue that these factors should be taken into account during the design and implementation of biometric systems.

Citation

Riley, C. W., Buckner, K., Johnson, G., & Benyon, D. (2009). Culture & biometrics: regional differences in the perception of biometric authentication technologies. AI & society, 24(3), 295-306. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-009-0218-1

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jun 23, 2009
• Publication Date: 2009-10
• Deposit Date: Jan 21, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: May 16, 2017
• Print ISSN: 0951-5666
• Electronic ISSN: 1435-5655
• Publisher: BMC
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 295-306
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-009-0218-1
• Keywords: biometric authentication technology; cross-cultural diffrences; data security
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/3484
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00146-009-0218-1
• Contract Date: May 16, 2017