UK consumers are the most open in Europe to the use of biometric technologies to verify their identities. This is according to the latest Unisys Security Index, the bi-annual global research project into consumers’ security concerns conducted by Unisys.

The latest UK Security Index reveals that 75% of UK residents would be willing to allow banks, government agencies and other organisations to take fingerprints in order to verify their identity, compared with France (59%), Germany (62%) or Italy (63%).

The Security Index also shows that financial security is now the biggest area of concern for UK consumers, with worries over the misuse of debit or credit card information having increased in the last six months.

The Security Index report reveals that UK consumers have some of the most liberal attitudes in Europe to the use of biometric technology for identification purposes. Respondents in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Belgium were all less willing to verify their identity through the use of fingerprint scans, blood vessel scans, facial scans or iris scans.

When it comes to iris recognition technologies, for example, 74% of those surveyed in the UK are prepared to verify their identity in this fashion, compared to France (45%), Germany (48%), Spain (53%), Italy (43%) and The Netherlands (72%). This reflects heightened concerns in the UK around the issue of identity theft and fraud.

Commenting on the research, Neil Fisher, Vice President, Identity Management, Unisys said: “As reports of instances of ID fraud and ID theft continue to make the headlines, this research shows that UK consumers are understandably becomingly increasingly concerned about the security of their personal information. Banks and government organisations need to do all that they can to protect UK consumers, but they need to consider the attitudes of their customers when implementing biometric and other security technologies as a means of protecting them from these threats. Encouragingly, this research clearly demonstrates that the majority of UK consumers have open minds when it comes to using new technologies to solve these problems.”

The Unisys Security Index is a global research project designed to help businesses and governments understand consumer attitudes towards a range of issues related to financial, personal, Internet and national security. Surveying more than 12,139 people in 13 countries, the study measures consumer perceptions on a scale of zero to 300, with 300 representing the highest level of perceived anxiety. Following a September poll of 976 adults across the country, the UK was awarded an index of 127, a 10 point increase since the last survey in March 2008.

The survey results revealed the attitudes of consumers across the world to the use of a range of biometric technologies for identification purposes. For example, 56% of Brits would be willing to use vascular recognition technology as a form of identification, 74% would be willing to have their iris scanned and 67% would be prepared to use facial recognition technology as a means of verifying their ID.

The largest shift in attitudes over the last six months has been in relation to national security. Just under half (46%) of those surveyed were extremely or very concerned with the UK’s national security in relation to war or terrorism, an 8% increase in 6 months. A not insignificant 34% of UK adults are also fearful of the risk of a serious health epidemic.

With several high profile incidents of data loss and data theft over the last six months it is perhaps unsurprising that the Brits remain concerned about credit and debit card fraud (63% compared to 59% in March). Some 57% of respondents are also extremely or very concerned about the issue of ID theft.