Local start-up debuts car fingerprint security system

A Gauteng-based security company, Eagle Eye Defence, has developed an affordable biometric security system for vehicles.

A vehicle owner or an authorised user will need to scan their fingerprints to authenticate themselves to start a car fitted with the system. The company plans to launch its product next year with prices ranging from R400 to R580 per month.

Unlike a conventional immobiliser, biometrics are safer because they are linked to a mechanical or software-based kill switch that usually only requires knowledge of where it is before it can be overridden.

“It gives you the ultimate protection that we as everyday consumers are looking for, as biometric access is not really a luxury, but more of a necessity, especially in the current days that we live in where hijacks have increased from about 38 vehicles daily, to around 60 vehicles,” said EED co-founder Iviwe Mosana.

The company says any motorists can bring their vehicle to EED and the installation will be handled by accredited service providers. It’s expected to take about two-and-a-half hours and the placement of the fingerprint sensor will be in a discrete location only known to the owner.

“We would ideally like to position the device in such a manner that by the time someone tries to locate it, we have already arrived,” he said. If any unauthorised person — be they a criminal or disobedient teenager — manages to start the vehicle, the biometric system will alert the owner through an app on their smartphone and allow them to cut the engine from up to 100m away.

Provisional approval from the Independent Communications Authority of SA has been given and the system is in the final phase of testing, though EED says it has already conducted successful tests internally.

Biometric security is already offered by some car manufacturers with extended applications beyond security. Premium brands such as Lexus and Mercedes-Benz offer fingerprint recognition in their cars, and in some markets the German brand’s cars use fingerprint biometrics integrated into the MBUX interface to pay for fuel.