Voice Passwords: Are they Any Safer?

When it comes to protecting yourself from fraud or ID theft, there are some new options that people can begin using now. One of the newest forms of protection is a voice password. While the idea behind the technology is very sound, only time will tell if this new technology is easier or harder for ID thieves to decipher. This in combination with some of the most tried and true methods of preventing ID fraud may be the perfect one-two punch to ID thieves, however.

What Voice Passwords Do

A voice password can be used on many different electronic items in and around your home. First you set up a voice password where a program has you repeat the password so it can tell the differences in the tone of your voice. From there, you must use the same inflection of your voice when repeating the password in the future. Seeing as how it is difficult to mimic another person's voice, this keeps your item locked until your specific voice repeats the password, protecting you from many types of theft or fraud. Since it is very difficult to commit ID fraud through a voice password, it gives you an added level of security over simply using a code that must be punched in to access your belongings.

How Voice Passwords Help Protect You

The voice recognition program learns your voice when it has you speak during the voice password setup process. It stores the different tones in your voice when you say different words, allowing it to verify your voice any time you speak to the program. Even if your voice is slightly different due to being ill or in a hurry, the program is still set up to recognize the base tones of your voice when you say the password. This means that another person, even one with a similar voice, cannot simply walk up to your item and open it, even if they overheard the password. Adding in the bonus of the program only needing your voice instead of some hard-to-remember set of numbers and/or letters, and it is easy to see why people are switching over to this new technology. It is a great way to help protect you against things like ID theft and credit card fraud.

How Else Can You Stay Safe?

If your ultimate goal is to stay safe from outside harm, such as identity thieves, scammers, and credit card fraud, then using a voice password should help. However, adding in little things you need to do on your own can help even more. Something as simple as reviewing your credit regularly can be a big help, because the quicker you notice something askew on your credit report, the better the chances are that you will be able to get that inaccuracy removed. You should also make sure that you keep your social security number to yourself and store all of your paperwork with this written out on it in a secure location. The more personal documentation you have under lock and key, the safer your identity is from thieves.

Taking the time to protect yourself from becoming a victim of identity theft may seem like an unnecessary step at times, but if you become the victim, you will only wish you took those few moments when you had the opportunity. If you simply do not have the time to keep up with your own credit monitoring, then pay a few dollars to have it done for you instead of taking the risk of someone stealing your personal information. Using voice passwords can go a long way in keeping your personal information for your use only and should be incorporated as a part of your current security routine.

Joy Mali is an active blogger who is fond of writing articles on Credit Protection and educating people to take immediate measure if your card is lost or stolen before someone take advantage of it. Follow her on Twitter to know more on how voices passwords help keep you safer.