content: It's frequently been shown that finger print readers are trivial to defeat While matching multiple algorithms may be handy if the attacker only has a partial finger print, once the whole finger print is acquired you have enough to fool the reader. Fingerprints can be lifted from anywhere since we constantly touch things in the world around us, and have even been recovered from photos. Bypassing the capacitive sensor has been shown to be trivial at best. Because each person will have a different capacitance based on body mass, moisture content in the skin, and other factors, the only thing it's looking for is that there is some capacitance (Higher end sensors might restrict this to a specific range). Apparently gummy bears make for a perfect thumb replacement as they conduct the capacitance onto the attackers body. Some high end systems also have heat sensors to detect body heat, but this suffers from the same issues as the capacitave sensors.  A good way to think of fingerprints or most biometrics is as a username- not a password.  Absolutely. Fingerprints (and other bio-metrics) are a very good method of identification. Especially if you're tying those bio-metrics to a specific person (not just a user account).