by Jim Ross
As I’ve stated before, biometrics is fine as a convenience (when it works, anyway) if it’s your choice to use it, but it does little to nothing to improve building security or to stop illegal short term rentals. Here’s why:
A) A determined intruder will easily “social engineer” their way into our building with or without biometrics. They don’t even have to be that determined: last evening my wife and I returned after dark from a walk on the Broadwalk. We used our spanking new access card to enter the South Gate, which has a fingerprint reader (not sure why? But it doesn’t matter, see the following). I was pulling out my trusty Medco key to enter Valencia at the garage level, but I saw a nice lady coming out, so I just waited for her to open the door to exit, and my wife and I waltzed into the facial-biometric-guarded entrance without using a key or access card and without checking our face in the shiny new biometric reader. We do not know the lady who came out; she does not know us. A bad guy or gal could get into our building just as easily. Claims that biometrics keeps us more secure are simply misinformed — they make a good sales pitch, though.
B) As far as short-term renters, let’s work through a scenario: Joe and Jill Airby arrive via Uber, luggage in hand, at the Valencia valet area. They announce themselves as friends of Sue Anbee in Valencia 101, so they are allowed through the secured doors to speak with the security concierge. Do I need to go on? These short-term renters just got inside our building without passing a facial recognition test. So now it’s all social engineering: as told by their “host,” they repeat to the concierge that they are friends of Sue Anbee, and the concierge, if they follow procedure, calls Sue, who is waiting for the call at her home somewhere in New York. Sue says sure, thanks, I’ve been waiting for them, please let them pass. And there you are. I have witnessed this scenario as it occurred. Claims that biometrics will stop short term rentals are simply misinformed — they make a good sales pitch, though.
How should we stop short-term rentals, then? I have lots of ideas, and I’ll bet many in our community do, too. Here’s one idea that could help: visitors must be met in the lobby by the owner they are visiting, and the owner has to be positively identified by the concierge. That would be a start. I have more ideas, but I’d love to hear yours. Let’s have a conversation about it.