Towards understanding user perceptions of authentication technologies

Abstract

Digital identities are increasingly being used to facilitate the execution of transactions in various domains. When developing and analyzing digital identity technologies, it is important to consider the perceptions and responses of end users. Users are typically concerned about privacy and security, but do not necessarily understand how these issues are impacted by the use of digital identities. In this paper, we discuss preliminary results of a survey regarding authentication technologies used to generate digital identities. Most respondents were unfamiliar with a majority of the technologies in question (e.g. hand geometry scans), and expressed uncertainty about their use. Perceptions were more positive for the use of authentication technologies in the financial domain, and more negative for their use in the retail domain. The results may inform the design of future systems.