Visitor Management - Controversy

Controversy

The amount of data recorded by a modern visitor management system is formidable, and issues of information privacy have created controversy regarding the use of these visitor management systems. However, terrorist activities, school violence and child protection issues have acted as rallying points for support of comprehensive visitor management systems in sensitive locations.

Database security, both at the national level and at the level of the end-user of an electronic security system is a critical concern for privacy advocates. They argue that as the level of information accessed, gathered and retained increases, additional security measures to protect the information itself should be put in place.

Also at issue is the level of security given to the access cards themselves. Some privacy advocates point to experiments done by researchers that crack the security of RFID cards, sometimes used as part of a visitor management system. If the security of these types of cards can be compromised, this would allow identity thieves to pilfer personal information.

Proponents of an information rich visitor management system point to increased school security as one substantial benefit. As more parents demand action from the schools that will protect children from sexual predators, some school districts are turning to modern visitor management systems that not only track a visitor’s stay, but also check the visitor’s information against national and local criminal databases.

According to the supporters of enhanced visitor management systems, the same database search capabilities could be used to protect sensitive areas potential threats such as terrorists of criminal activity.