Biometrics in the work place

I just got fingerprinted to use as an ID at work for the first time.  The little laser scanned my finger and they sent me on my way telling me that in an hour or so they would push the file up to the network and I would have access to everything I needed.

Every door at this place has those little fingerprint readers.  Very high tech.

So around lunch time I went wandering around the building doing some exploring.  The building I am in is pretty nice.  Decent cafeteria and quickie mart.  Nice tile floors.

I walked back to the floor my office is on and scaned my finger.  Nothing.  A coworker was with me so he scanned and the door unlocked.  We found out that they had not given me enough access and they took care of it.

I just went for another walk and tried to walk up the stairs when returning.  The scanner at the top of the stairs would not work after a couple tries.  I took the stairs back down and the elevator back up and the scanner didn’t work from that door either.  I tried a couple more times and it finally took.

Very annoying.  Could you imagine driving in after hours and trying to get in only to have the scanner decide it doesn’t like your finger today?  A little creepy.  I guess the good news is that you can get out of any door, you just can’t get in.

I talked to some coworkers and they say they have to scan around 10 times sometimes to get the reader to recognize them.  I just hope I don’t forget which finger I used.  Although, if the scanner keeps denying me access, I have a feeling which finger I’ll be using in the future.

Have any of you had to give away your fingerprint to get access to your work place?  I wonder how long it will be before that information is shared with the police and somebody is arrested because they had to use one of these scanners at work.