Podcast: Experts Weigh Benefits and Risks of Biometrics in the Workplace

In this high-tech age, employers are increasingly turning to biometrics to help manage employees. Biometrics refers to the technology of identifying an individual's characteristics through hand measurements, fingerprints, eye scans and other unique traits. But its use also has raised some privacy concerns.

In this XpertHR podcast, Atlanta management-side employment attorney C.R. Wright and Jeramie D. Scott of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) discuss the benefits and risks of biometrics. Wright practices with Fisher Phillips and formerly worked in HR for the Lockheed Corporation.

Podcast: Experts Weigh Benefits and Risks of Biometrics in the Workplace

February 21, 2014

Wright says employers have turned to this new technology to reduce employee fraud when clocking in and out of work, known as "buddy punching." He notes that biometrics also is being used to increase security and protect an employer's trade secrets.

But Scott, who is the National Security Counsel for EPIC, says there are a number of issues in using biometric data, including the risk of this sensitive data being compromised. Scott explains, "There are definitely some benefits to be had, but there are privacy risks that need to be addressed [by employers] at the outset."