Perceptions of Risk and Security Concerns with Mobile Devices using Biometric vs Traditional Authentication Methods

Authentication methods on mobile devices provide an important layer of security. Many types of authentication methods exist, some traditional and some biometric-based. In this study, we use a survey method to examine whether the presence and type of an authentication method affect perceptions of risk and security concerns around three specific types of mobile device actions: banking, health, and activities with personally identifiable information (PII). We also survey users’ general perceptions of trust, usefulness, convenience, and ease of use toward authentication methods, both traditional and biometric. We find that users’ perceptions of risk and security concerns change when users consider the type of authentication method present on a device. While traditional methods are still more familiar to most users, we also find that perceptions of biometric-based methods are more similar to perceptions of traditional methods than in the past