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Blue Jays Adopt DigitalPersona Fingerprint Technology
[June 23, 2004]

Blue Jays Adopt DigitalPersona Fingerprint Technology

After a successful field test of DigitalPersona's fingerprint authentication technology among 30 scouts, the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club has agreed to purchase an additional 150 units to complete a company-wide deployment of DigitalPersona's Pro solution. Instead of relying on passwords to protect their critical intelligence and applications, 180 Blue Jays scouts and home office staff will be using DigitalPersona Pro; an end-to-end fingerprint authentication solution that enables employees to log on to their PC's, corporate networks and applications with a simple touch of a finger. DigitalPersona Pro recognizes registered users but keeps everyone else out.



Using DigitalPersona Pro, the Blue Jays organization will no longer be reliant on users to manage and protect their passwords. Any time an employee needs to log on to a computer, network or application, a simple tap of a registered finger on a DigitalPersona fingerprint reader is all that is required to obtain secure and immediate access. As a result, users are no longer burdened to manage an ever-growing list of constantly changing passwords. Since users no longer need to remember and enter passwords to authenticate, they are no longer apt to breach security policy by writing them down to keep track of them. In fact, administrators can now require longer, more secure passwords without burdening the user or the password help desk. The net result is that the Blue Jays have ensured that sensitive information remains well guarded, while providing a more convenient employee authentication experience.

"People are pretty interested in this little device that's plugged into my laptop," said Jacques Farand, Director, Information Technology, Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Organization. "They are even more impressed when I tell them it can distinguish my fingerprint from everyone else's."


Elimination of user name and password combinations has dramatically reduced support calls for password replacement without adding complexity. The fingerprint sensor, about the size of a credit card and less than a half an inch thick, is coupled with DigitalPersona's Pro software that controls system access more reliably and conveniently than traditional security methods.

According to Farand, "Fingerprint identification is actually much easier and faster than entering a user name and password and it does a better job of protecting our confidential data in the process. DigitalPersona has hit a home run with this solution."

"With DigitalPersona Pro, Blue Jay management and scouts don't have to worry about unauthorized users obtaining access to vital data," said Harvey Bondar, VP of Marketing and Product Management for DigitalPersona. "Even if a laptop is lost, the Blue Jays can remain confident that they will retain their strategic advantage on the field and off, because important data will remain solely on the hands of Blue Jay personnel."

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