Privacy and security of financial interactions

What is it?

When dealing with finances, people expect aspects of their personal information to be private and only known to those who have permission. Managing this can be challenging and can require both financial and digital literacy.

How personal information remains private is a matter of security. Security can be physical, like a locked safe or a door alarm, or digital, like encrypting data or using some sort of authentication. Security is often purposely designed to make an action more difficult as a way to deter unauthorized access. People with disabilities, who are Deaf, or have intersectional identities often deal with increased barriers due to these security measures.

Articles

This Articles section includes research papers, news articles, and other information published on the Internet.

• “Cyber Security: Breaking Down Barriers” by Filipe Denis / Information Technology Association of Canada, Bank of Canada. The article describes the interconnected and broad approach to tackling cyber security, the need for regulations to allow more information sharing, and collaboration as a counter-measure against cyber crime.

• “Usability of Biometric Authentication Methods for Citizens with Disabilities” by Ronna N. Ten Brink, Rebecca Scollan / The MITRE Corporation. A paper that evaluates the effectiveness of authentication methods (fingerprint, eye, palm, and PIN recognition). The study concludes that people with disabilities have a low completion rate, and that completion rate should be a metric for a successful authentication scheme. The study also proposes exploring adaptable positioning and not relying on a single authentication method, but provide alternate methods of authentication and access.

• “A New Authentication Approach for People with Upper Extremity Impairment” by Lewis, Hebert, et. al. / IEEE. Paper investigates using heart rhythm, wearable devices and head-mounted devices as an authentication method. The paper reports a 4% to 10% error rate amoung 6 participants.

• “Password Challenges for Older People in China and the United Kingdom“ by Helen Petrie, Burak Merdenyan & Chen Xie / Computers Helping People with Special Needs, Springer Nature. This conference paper talks about a research study that investigated the challenges that older people in China and the UK face when creating and managing passwords for online services. There were more problems identified related to creating passwords and fewer challenges for managing and remembering passwords.

• “Digital Authentication and Dyslexia: A Survey of the Problems and Needs of Dyslexia People“ by Nicole Kelly & Helen Petrie / Computers Helping People with Special Needs, Springer Nature. This conference paper exams the impact of digital authentication for dyslexic individuals. It found that dyslexic individuals reported significantly more difficulty with creating and remembering passwords and using CPATCHAs or pattern authentication systems. Other forms of authentication such as biometrics, such as face recognition, did not provide the same issues.

• “Dyslexia and Password Usage: Accessibility in Authentication Design“ by Karen Renaud, Graham Johnson & Jacques Ophoff / Human Aspects of Information Security and Assurance, Springer Nature. This conference paper reports on a literature review of the research on dyslexia and password usage. The paper highlights the difficulties experiences by individuals with dyslexia when using passwords and suggests some avenues for future research into it.

• “Accessible and Inclusive Cyber Security: A Nuanced and Complex Challenge“ by Karen Renaud & Lizzie Coles-Kemp / Springer Nature. The article emphasizes that designing accessibility into cyber security measures from the beginning can help reduce vulnerabilities for people with disabilities and ensure that everyone can access online services securely.

• “Understanding Authentication Method Use on Mobile Devices by People with Vision Impairment“ by Daniella Briotto Faustino and Audrey Girouard / Carlton University. A survey was conducted, for individuals with vision impairment, to understand their strategies for remembering passwords, perception of authentication methods, and ability to secure their digital information. Along with the survey results, insights are provided for designing authentication systems suitable for individuals with vision impairement.

• “Cyber Security: Breaking Down Barriers” by Filipe Dinis / Bank of Canada. The article describes the interconnected and broad approach to tackling cyber security, the need for regulations to allow more information sharing, and collaboration as a counter-measure against cyber crime.

• “Usability of Biometric Authentication Methods for Citizens with Disabilities” by Ronna N. ten Brink, Rebecca I. Scollan / MITRE Corporation. A paper that evaluates the effectiveness of authentication methods (fingerprint, eye, palm, and PIN recognition). The study concludes that people with disabilities have a low completion rate, and that completion rate should be a metric for a successful authentication scheme. The study also proposes exploring adaptable positioning and not relying on a single authentication method, but provide alternate methods of authentication and access.

• “A New Authentication Approach for People with Upper Extremity Impairment” by Brittany Lewis; Joshua Hebert; Krishna Venkatasubramanian; Matthew Provost; Kelly Charlebois / IEEE. Paper investigates using heart rhythm, wearable devices and head-mounted devices as an authentication method. The paper reports a 4% to 10% error rate amoung 6 participants.

• “Biometrics: Accessibility challenge or opportunity?“ by Ramon Blanco-Gonzalo, Chiara Lunerti, Raul Sanchez-Reillo and Richard Michael Guest / PLoS ONE. This research paper emphasizes the importance of ensuring that biometric security systems are accessible and usable for all individuals, including those with disabilities.

• “Cognitive Function vs. Accessible Authentication: Insights from Dyslexia Research“ by Jacques Ophoff, Graham Johnson, and Karen Renaud / Association for Computing Machinery. This research paper presents the findings of a study that explores the relationship between cognitive function and accessible authentication, with a focus on individuals with dyslexia. The authors identify several challenges that people with dyslexia face when it comes to password-based authentication mechanisms, including difficulties with memorization and recall. They also evaluate alternative authentication methods, such as biometrics and multi-factor authentication, that could be more accessible for people with cognitive disabilities.

Experiences and observations

This Experiences section includes stories, perspectives, and experiences submitted by people experiencing disabilities or is Deaf. Where necessary, personal information have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.

• Sam received a phone call from his bank that his account is frozen. He discovered that someone has his PIN and has been using it to make online purchases. He suspects that this is because he must trust his many different attendants with his PIN and card to buy groceries and essentials, as during COVID, cash is no longer accepted.

• Darren has been locked out of his account multiple times because, due to his cerebral palsy, he can’t enter the correct password in time.

• Lucy wishes to open an account with a pharmacy delivery service to get her medications delivered but can’t get past the CAPTCHA on the registration page because she can’t see.

Other issues being raised or addressed

• This section is work in progress.

External groups

The External Groups section contains links to organizations or individuals who are working, advocating, or innovating in this space. The parties mentioned in this list are not endorsed by the IDRC.

• There is nothing in this list currently.

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