[TusharK]

Hyundai has revealed its smart fingerprint technology that will enable drivers to unlock and start their vehicles without using car keys. The company plans to introduce this technology on the 2019 Santa Fe in select markets in Q1 of 2019.



Placing a finger on a sensor located on the door handle unlocks the vehicle. A fingerprint sensor can also be used to start the vehicle. The system uses encrypted fingerprint information that is sent to the fingerprint controller located inside the vehicle. It can automatically adjust seating positions, connected car features and ORVMs as per the driver's preference.



According to Hyundai, fingerprint technology is expected to allow adjustment of temperature and steering wheel position in the future. The company claims that capacitance recognition detects differentials in the electricity levels in various parts of the fingertip and prevents forgeries and faked fingerprints. It is claimed to be more secure than conventional keys and smart keys. The system supports dynamic updates.



Here's a related thread (DIY: Biometric Entry in my car - truly keyless!) which explains how you can install a biometric entry system on a car.



Link to Team-BHP News

[Sankar]

Not a good idea in regions with cold climate where one has to wear gloves.

Whats the need really, except to showcase technology.

[Miyata]

What is the maturity on this technology? At our workplace, someone had this brainwave to put in biometric (fingerprint based) door lock/access at some points. Was sheer pain to deal with it - quite a few times the system would just hangup. Other times it would be a in state of limbo. Although it improved over time, I never felt it accomplished anything of value.

Most of us are/were not easily or too dazzled with technology unless it's serving up some real value.

[Adi22]

People will find a reason to buy anything & everything just for bragging(a top end model feature?). Need be damned. The business has to go on, if a handheld mobile phone has 8 core processor & 256 GB memory for daily use today, why not this. Bring on the tech mayhem.

[gururajrv]

Well, I appreciate Hyundai for introducing this biometric on the cars as first in industry (correct me if I’m mistaken).

But I’ve my concerns here;

1) How secured will a customer’s fingerprint be when it’s scanned on a car that can be stolen easily or hacked? Plus, if the customers information gets stored on company’s database, there are all the chances of information leakage that could lead to a series of problems.

2) If I’ve to lend my car, then scanning the fingerprint of the requestor will also be a threat to him / her as I can break into their information if I’m a tech savvy guy. This will also prove to be cumbersome otherwise, because if I’m in a hurry requesting my friend lend his tech filled car, it’ll be surely time consuming for both of us.

3) Apple was questioned on the same grounds with respect to data protection in US when it introduced Touch ID in their iPhone 5S back in 2013. You can read the post here - Hyundai will be safe from these questions if they’re omitting this feature in US to escape from Senators

PS:
There was a discussion already on the DIY segment when one of our members installed Biometric on his car. Looks like someone did eavesdropping on the DIY and came up with this idea already

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Heavy criticism?

Would have said the same thing two years back - but fingerprint sensors on smartphones have become so seamless these days, that I feel it is only a natural progression that the tech is adopted by the automobile industry.

Whats the real need to carry around that keyfob if fingerprint sensors work as well as in smartphones.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Not a good idea in regions with cold climate where one has to wear gloves.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Heavy criticism?

Every new technology will have some people criticizing it. I think this is unnecessary for our cars.

But I agree with Sankar, I'm living in Minnesota where temperatures can regularly hit negative thirties and forties. In such a place, using fingerprints is a pain. I like the idea that Hyundai is implementing programmed seat settings and temperature preference with fingerprints.

[sub.g84]

I too agree that in cold places, this is not practical where one has to remove the gloves everytime to unlock the car. And oh, what about rainy days in anywhere in the world? I see that my iphone sensor sometimes refuses to unlock when my finger tips are wet. So on rainy days with a wet sensor is this gonna work?

Moreover when one sells off his car, I hope there is going to be a way to de-register the fingerprint. Else in the wrong hands the fingerprint can be used for any wrong doings. I just hope that for these newer Hyundais they continue to maintain the physical keys in parallel for those emergency moments when the user decides to use the key.

[GTO]

Am going against the majority opinion on this thread & saying I LOVE IT. This is definitely an idea whose time has come. If I can trust my valuable + sensitive data on fingerprint authentication (e.g. smartphone, laptop), I can certainly trust a car with it.

Why is there a need to carry a key at all?

Originally Posted by Sankar

Not a good idea in regions with cold climate where one has to wear gloves.

Agreed with cold climates. However:

1. That's not relevant to India.

2. Manufacturers will always give you a backup key to use, just as today's smartkeys have a skeleton key inside.

Originally Posted by Miyata

What is the maturity on this technology?

A couple of million phones sold every month with the tech working flawlessly is maturity enough for me.

Originally Posted by sub.g84

Moreover when one sells off his car, I hope there is going to be a way to de-register the fingerprint.

De-registering should be easy, just like you do on smartphones. In addition, manufacturers can store your fingerprint in an encrypted format onboard.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Not a good idea in regions with cold climate where one has to wear gloves

True, but this is the real key -

Originally Posted by TusharK

in select markets in Q1 of 2019

So we can assume the select market is not the cold regions, until proved otherwise.

But yes, dirty hands, too much dust & pollution can certainly can be annoying to keep trying & trying when the doors don't open.

[KrisTvpm]

When door opening request sensors were introduced too, many would've thought this way - why refactor/improve something when the current one isn't broken/works fine !?
As with other devices currently having the fingerprint technology (smartphones, biometric door opening systems etc.), I'm assuming fingerprint is not going to be the ONLY medium to access the cars. Backup options (remote keyfob, physical key etc.) would be factored in by the manufacturers. Those who like/want to use it can, others need not.

So, why not !?

[Rajeevraj]

Just like in smartphones, where fingerprint unlock is commonplace now, you still have the option of PIN, Pattern, even Face unlock. So I am sure that buyers of such cars will be provided with a regular key fob also which can work irrespective of whether the fingerprint unlock is enabled or not. Depending on the need, the owner can decide whether to carry it or not. Example if you know you are going to a place where valet parking is the norm, you can carry the key-fob. Or if you want to lend your car, just provide the regular key.

Will require some time to figure out what works best. But I see this as a positive thing. No fear of lost keys in remote places.

[gururajrv]

With all the concerns aside, I will also put my bet on the fingerprint tech once it makes its way into smaller cars or to those under 15L bracket come on, who doesn’t like tech loaded cars!

[Miyata]

Originally Posted by GTO

...Why is there a need to carry a key at all?

A couple of million phones sold every month with the tech working flawlessly is maturity enough for me.

True. One difference though is the smartphone is always well protected from elements and 'abuse' in general. So the (capacitive) sensors don't lose their integrity over time.

I am not yet sure how well the sensors (be it optical, electrical/capacitive, or ultrasonic) will holdup over a range of temperatures, humidity, dust, water, aging of the finger prints, etc. The one we had at our workplace was all-optical. Gave much issues. Although the issues have reduced, not considerably enough to consider them reliable.

I can certainly imagine them coming in along with regular backup and fall-back options though.

Still, the biometric sensors are surely here to go mainstream. No doubts in that. They do offer much scope for personalization and other useful data-analytics.

The sensors I am looking forward to would be more along the lines of tracking the health and degree of driver awareness/concentration-lapse etc to enable appropriate warning mechanisms.

[2cents]

Often overlooked fact is 'biometric' is at best a tool for convenience and authentication, not security. We park our cars unsupervised for hours together, as opposed to smartphones. If I were a car jack, all I have to do to steal your car is to follow you into a chaai shop. It's fairly easy to imitate a thumb imprint. No worries about the anti-theft alarms even.

I would prefer this as a second level of security, wherein you use your fingerprint to start your car/ECU, after you get in. Automatic seat, steering and temperature adjustments would be adding some bells and whistles.