Eikon Digital Privacy Manager - USB fingerprint reader

Bought this for my iMac at the advertised price at about $105. Then, I discovered that Fulcrum Biometrics is selling this item for less than $50! I could use one for my MacBook so out of curiosity I ordered one since their picture looked the same. Same exact product! Works well but if your MacBook Pro is encrypted like mine, you have to enter the password on initial logon; afterwards you may use the reader for various system actions such as log on from a log off, restart, shut down, etc. as well as bringing up applications. Does not work with Firefox 19.02 at all. Works well on a Mac for logging on and accessing locked system settings - in other words, it handles anything that requires a system password. It would not work on Firefox 19.0 at all in spite of the plug-in. It did work somewhat on Safari for fundamental log ins such as newspapers but it would not work on financial sites with complex log ins - the FF passwords won't do that either. Considering the limited utility, I did like the opportunity to use mile long alphanumeric passwords granting system access that would be pretty hard to break. Still, I was very disappointed that it did not live up to the hype as far as web logins. It doesn't marry up with 1Password either - they have declined to modify their software for it. Although the price is a little steep for the limited use, I'll keep it for system purposes. That's all it does.

Descriptions and docs say this works with Win 7 64-bit, but it does not. Too bad, it seems like a good quality scanner and the scanner seems to work fine but the software is not compatible with my Win 7 64-bit SP-1 system. I installed the 2009 software from the CD and the then the scanner as instructed. The software loaded and scanned my fingerprints. It seemed to be working fine. Logged off and back on, all fine. Then I rebooted the system and even before windows started the screen gets all messed up with lines and weird characters all over the place. Then windows crashes while trying to boot. Thankfully windows recovery restored my system and removed the scanner software but it looked bad for a while. This does not appear to be a new problem. Looking at the support site there are several others with similar problems. AuthenTec, the software vendor, has a newer 2011 version of the software and drivers specifically for Win 7. I tried installing these as well and had the same results. It is really unfortunate that poor software is going to kill what appears to be a good quality product. When it was working it seemed to be exactly what I was looking for to make the password issues for my users easier. I have contacted support but they have not responded yet. You can see their support forum here:[...]

I am paranoid about passsword security, partly because I am a programmer and I know too well how easy it is to defeat any secure system simply because people are too lazy to use strong passwords. Whenever possible I tried to use long tedious passwords, which meant a lot of copying and pasting to and from an encrypted file, which was simply too much a pain. I was told about KeePass, which is basically an encrypted passwords vault and password generator with very rudimentary browser integration, and it has some mirror/remote features that outweigh the rudimentary controls. I was happy wit KeePass until I learned that Windows 7 allows the use of fingerprint scanners to log in, and that this particular fingerprint scanner came with a password vault and generator that more or less mimics the way KeePass works. I should have bought this at least six months ago. Installing it was simple and did not give me any 64-bit driver drama. The packaging doesn't explain very well that it has a license to the full version of the passwords vault (Protector Suite 2009) but it only meant an extra minute looking around. The only real hassle is having to register the dozens of credentials that I use. Setup: Install applications off the CD, reboot, plug in the device, then register your fingerprints. Registering the fingerprints takes less than one minute per finger. The good: It allows you to use very long passwords, basically as long as the login form can take, since all you need to login is a finger swipe. Even if the device malfunctions, you have a password that can be used to access the passwords vault manually. This means that if your machine is not set to remember passwords, and somebody manages to access your machine, they will not be able to access your websites and secured applications since they will need either your fingerprints or your master password. It is much easier to remember one long password than a few dozen. It also allows you to log into Windows, which is nice but it is not as impressive as the ability to deal with all of those online credentials. Setup for this feature was pretty much automatic. The not so good: The settings menus for the Protector Suite could help from a usability review. Nothing major here, for example I couldn't figure out how to move the location of the data files, which makes it harder to make it play nice with dropbox or other online folder sync services. Swipes are not instantaneous, but the one second delay for the swipe and the login operation are a lot less of a hassle than having to remember which account and password goes with which challenge. After about a day I stopped minding the delay. A mounting bracket would be nice, but it is nothing I can't fix with a strip of velcro. Overall I am extremely pleased. This is the last time that I order a laptop without a built-in fingerprint scanner and I will probably buy a couple more Eikon fingerprint units for my wife's Windows laptop and my son's iMac. Update: 10/7/2010 The shift to using the fingerprint scanner for everything was pretty much painless and very natural. Now I instinctively reach for the scanner whenever a password is requested. The Protector Suite flashes a red outline in pages that have a login box and are already registered, so it becomes a reflex to see the red outline and immediately reach for the scanner. It also works with Windows networking credential challenges in Windows 7, I have been able to use it to authenticate IIS and Remote Desktop access challenges. There are exactly two things I can't use with this scanner: 1. A specific online bank that uses a weird, non conventional sequence to log you into an account. This is not a flaw in the Protector Suite or the scanner, it is simply a really weird website. 2. One or two websites with really weird AJAX overlays for the login, the software can't tell that the page has triggered the login box. Except for these two, it works pretty close to perfectly. And yes, I still notice the delay, but the delay is shorter than the time needed to remember which password to use and to type it.

As we all know, visiting favorite websites requires usernames and passwords, and if you have many favorite websites then you have a lot of usernames and passwords to remember. A biometric fingerprint reader that allows you to login into a favorite website, online forum or online blog without having to remember your credentials is a wonderful idea. That is why I purchased the Eikon Digital Privacy Manager - Fingerprint Reader. However, in practice it rarely recognizes my fingerprint and I'm forced to manually login anyway, defeating the whole purpose of it. To be fair, it has worked on a few occasions, and when it does I'm delighted, but I feel it should work most if not all of the time. I want this to work so much that I won't return it for a refund. I've contacted technical service and they promptly emailed me back with suggestions and helpful links. Though I'm patient and committed to making this device work, those of you who aren't as forgiving as I am should avoid this product; you'll be swiping your finger over the sensor and getting a little box on the screen "failed" many, many times before you get a box with a green arrow for acceptance.