When we think of technological advancements, do we also think increased security when it comes to our identity? The capability to replace passwords with fingerprints has already taken place. Actually, they have been around since the 1990s in consumer technology (Cnet). Yet, security experts are finding it to be far from safe, especially today. Despite the “coolness” of being able to use Apple's Touch ID fingerprint reader with the press of a finger, hackers are starting to use this to their advantage, by stealing fingerprints. The scariest part is how fingerprints are being stolen-by a simple photograph.

Jan Krissler, during his speech at the Chaos Computer Club, Europe's largest hacker organization, said it only took a few close-range photos of a politician’s hand from a “standard photo camera” to create an image of that person's thumbprint. The process is finalized by using fingerprint reading software,VeriFinger.

It is thought that this particular biometric technology will continue to evolve as “hacking opportunities arise” (Business Insider). With recent events at Sony, Microsoft, and others, I think we can all agree that hackers are currently having the time of their lives. After this talk, Krissler even suggests “politicians will presumably wear gloves when talking in public”.

Do they have to? Should we keep our fingers hidden whenever around a camera? It sounds ridiculous and silly, and it might be. But really, anyone truly wanting to fool Apple's Touch ID system could go to these great lengths. Not to mention Samsung and HTC, who followed in Apple's footsteps by integrating their own fingerprint readers into some of their smartphones. So, honestly, this kind of sucks. Good news is, a lot of these devices that accept a fingerprint to unlock or authenticate a purchase actually require that finger to be present. So, in a world where our identities, movies, and credit cards get hacked, at least we've got that going for us?