The Customer Service Survey
VocaLabs' weblog providing news and commentary on the challenges of providing good customer service.
Customer fingerprints
Monday - March 19, 2007 03:14 PM in
I noticed today a couple of stories about fingerprinting customers: one about a car dealer that wanted a customer's thumbprint to buy a new car, and another about a bank which wouldn't cash a check without one. In both cases there doesn't appear to be any legal requirement to collect the print, but a company policy variously described as to prevent identity theft and/or terrorism.
I don't know of any research on the question, but I'm going to guess that a lot of people would react much the same way I would: initially, I'd be very put off, since it feels like being treated like a criminal; I'd probably go along with it just to get my transaction done; but I'd probably never ever go back.
Reflecting on my reaction, it's clear that identity theft and terrorism are serious problems. What's more, even though fingerprinting won't prevent a crook from buying a car or cashing a check (unless the print was compared against an FBI database, which it apparently isn't), it could be very useful for an investigator to find the criminal and obtain a conviction.
So why does this give me the heebie-jeevies?
Realistically, there isn't much the bank or car dealer could dowith my fingerprint--though having a big database of fingerprints in private hands could make it easier for law enforcement to go on big fishing expeditions. In fact, from a privacy and fraud perspective, I should be more concerned about what the car dealer does with my signature on the contract (which could be copied onto a different document in an attempt to defraud me) than the fingerprint.
I think it isn't so much the fingerprint as the symbolism. As every kid who's ever played cops-and-robbers knows, the first thing you do when bringing the bad guy to the station is fingerprint him. Detectives are forever searching crime scenes for telltale smudges. Fingerprinting is what you do to criminals, not customers.
Fingerprinting a customer is like saying, "I know you're guilty, I just haven't figured out what you're guilty of."
Customer relationships need to be built on trust, and asking for a customer's fingerprint sends a very powerful message that you don't trust the customer (to say nothing of the whole "Big Brother is Watching You" aspect).
Which, in the inevitable logic of tit-for-tat, leads the customer to distrust the company, and imagine all sorts of nefarious purposes to which that fingerprint can be put.
Posted by Peter Leppik
Reflecting on my reaction, it's clear that identity theft and terrorism are serious problems. What's more, even though fingerprinting won't prevent a crook from buying a car or cashing a check (unless the print was compared against an FBI database, which it apparently isn't), it could be very useful for an investigator to find the criminal and obtain a conviction.
So why does this give me the heebie-jeevies?
Realistically, there isn't much the bank or car dealer could dowith my fingerprint--though having a big database of fingerprints in private hands could make it easier for law enforcement to go on big fishing expeditions. In fact, from a privacy and fraud perspective, I should be more concerned about what the car dealer does with my signature on the contract (which could be copied onto a different document in an attempt to defraud me) than the fingerprint.
I think it isn't so much the fingerprint as the symbolism. As every kid who's ever played cops-and-robbers knows, the first thing you do when bringing the bad guy to the station is fingerprint him. Detectives are forever searching crime scenes for telltale smudges. Fingerprinting is what you do to criminals, not customers.
Fingerprinting a customer is like saying, "I know you're guilty, I just haven't figured out what you're guilty of."
Customer relationships need to be built on trust, and asking for a customer's fingerprint sends a very powerful message that you don't trust the customer (to say nothing of the whole "Big Brother is Watching You" aspect).
Which, in the inevitable logic of tit-for-tat, leads the customer to distrust the company, and imagine all sorts of nefarious purposes to which that fingerprint can be put.
Posted by Peter Leppik
Posted at 03:14 PM by | | | |