There is more to biometrics than user identification: Making mobile interactions personal, secure and representative

This essay contributes an extended view on user information inferred by personal devices to motivate applications of biometrics beyond user identification. We unfold a new design space in two parts: First, we take inspiration from the shared focus on individuality in both biometrics and Belk’s Extended Self (ES, [1, 2]). ES describes that people use (digital) objects to define and reflect on their identities. Following this, we propose that personal devices can use biometrics to assess individual user attributes and behaviour for three application areas related to the core aspects of ES: privacy and security (Having), UI personalisation (Doing), digital self-presentation (Being). Second, we propose to view biometrics as part of a larger class of Implicit Information. Such information is inferred from interactions and sensors to be used across these application domains. We discuss implications and limitations of this view. ACM CCS: Security and privacy → Human and societal aspects of security and privacy → Usability in security and privacy