More Than a Third of Americans Would Undergo Iris Scans for Better Government Services

Slightly more than one-third of U.S. citizens would share their iris scans with the federal government, if it meant they could get personalized services, such as quicker processing of passports and taxes, a new survey found.

A new Accenture survey reveals that 67 percent of respondents would share their cellphone numbers with the federal government, but far fewer -- 35 percent -- would proffer their iris scans in exchange for individualized services. Sixty-one percent would share fingerprints, 56 percent would share digital photographs and 42 percent would submit to voice recognition technology, according to the survey of 509 Virginia, Maryland and District of Columbia residents. (Sixty-four of the citizens surveyed were also federal employees.)

A small subset -- 16 percent -- would opt to withhold all of this information, according to the survey.

The survey also highlighted some generational differences in what respondents were willing to share. For instance, almost three quarters of millennials -- those born between 1979 and 1997 -- would share their cellphone number with the government, compared to 56 percent of baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964.

But respondents born before 1964 appeared to be more comfortable sharing their iris scans than their younger counterparts --  41 percent of respondents born before 1946 and 38 percent of baby boomers said they’d give up the scans, compared to 35 percent of millennials.

(Image via Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com)