It seems the never-met-an-Authoritarian-they-didn't-love Editor and staff (all the other ones, too; all three of them) of the Indianapolis Star may be -- probably are -- headed for a fingerprint-based, accurate-to-the-second timeclock system called "Kronos." The original-style Kronos is the figure we know as "Father Time." I sure hope the manufacturers haven't confused the modern, extra-crispy one with Cronus. Could get ugly.
Next time y'all "thumb in" to write and run an editorial touting biometric ID or bemoaning yet another bit of Big-Brotherism, remember, Mr. Editor, y'did it to yourself.
Seriously?
ReplyDelete*does the "ha ha suckers" dance*
Srsly. Follow the first two links.
ReplyDeleteI've worked on a government Kronos implementation as well as with AFIS Live Scan technology, and the two systems have absolutely nothing in common. All Kronos stores is hashes derived from finger scans that cannot be used to recreate an actual fingerprint. There is no connection between the hash and the employee's identity outside of that individual Kronos installation.
ReplyDeleteI've had to support time and attendance systems where "buddy punching" was a big problem. Hourly employees were unionized, and effective discipline for time fraud was difficult with waste of taxpayer money as the result. The biometric option was selected to put a stop to counterfeit swipe cards and other ways employees tried to get paid for hours they never worked.
Kronos won the RFP based in part on their system being the most fraud-resistant of the respondents.
In my experience, media time-sheet "fraud" gives free hours to the company. In practice, this is yet more suicidal-business-practices from the oldstream media.
ReplyDeleteIn theory, it's giving newspaper employees the crawling creeps; you'll pardon me if I snicker.
As for the system itself, I don't terribly mind. If folks don't like it, they can find other employment.
My workplace has tried a couple of print scan and iris scan devices and has given up on them, going back to smart cards and cameras. Thankfully they piloted them on us computer jocks before implimenting them for the full staff of 2000 or so.
ReplyDeleteThe fingerprint scanners seem to have trouble with older people and women. Their hands swell with changes in the weather and periodically. Yes, I know that's not supposed to happen.
The iris scanners just never worked, and people were really creeped out by them.
Why does this technology remind me of this?
ReplyDelete