Spanish researchers want to turn your body odor into your new password

Researchers at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid are currently developing a new form of biometric authentication based on personal body odor. The Group of Biometrics, Biosignals and Security, with help from the Spanish engineering consulting firm Ilía Systems Ltd, hopes that its work can used as a novel form of citizen security while also being used in the realm of disease detection.

Facial recognition, fingerprints and iris scans could soon take a back seat to the newest biometric identification method on the block: body odor. Researchers at Spain’s Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, in collaboration with tech firm IIia Sistemas SL, are developing a system that can verify people by their scent signatures.  Recognizable body odor patterns remain constant enough over time to allow people to be identified with an accuracy rate of 85 percent. Researchers believe this result is enough to create less aggressive ways to ID people than intrusive measures currently being used today.