Security vs. privacy? User preferences regarding text passwords and biometric authentication

Abstract

Although text passwords suffer from several flaws, they are still wide-spread. Biometric authentication schemes are one possible alternative.However, previous study results suggest there might be two user groups preferring either knowledge-based or biometric authentication, due to different reasons. We conducted an online survey with 95 German participants to test this assumption. Our results provide evidence for the existence of two user groups, with preferences varying between different usage scenarios. Main reasons named for both methods are efficiency, security and habit, whereas privacy is another advantage provided by text passwords. Service providers should consider this diverging preferences in their decision to implement a particular authentication method.