Biometrics really annoy me. In a previous life building secure authentication systems for Egg, a major internet bank, I did a great deal of research into biometrics. Not only are there issues for a substantial minority (think those with glaucoma, burns victims, those with no hands), whichever biometric you pick. But there is also the fundamental problem that you can’t ‘reset’ a biometric in the same way as a password or a certificate.

Even more annoying is the way in which proponents seem to ignore even the most compelling evidence against biometrics – such as the obvious fact that your fingerprint is neither secure nor secret. Nor is it non-reproducible.

Something that Germany’s interior minister, Wolfgang Schauble has just found out.