Of Finger Prints, Palm Veins, and such

A reporter recently asked me whether GMAC’s recent adoption of a palm vein reader was a knee-jerk reaction to the theft of GMAT test questions by participants in the web site Scoretop.com. Her question was not an unfair one as the media had certainly offered us daily doses of stories on Scoretop.com. The comment lines, blogs, and chat rooms were replete with opinion by both the informed and the uninformed.

The palm vein reader that has now been installed in GMAT test centers in Korea and India will be a part of every GMAT test center by the end of the first quarter of 2009. It represents one more aspect of our commitment to continuous improvement.

The palm vein reader is less invasive and more accurate than the digital fingerprint that we have captured since January 1, 2006, when the Graduate Management Admission Council first launched the GMAT with partners Pearson VUE and ACT, Inc. Moreover, it’s a more reliable identifier than fingerprints. There are some individuals, myself included, who have fingerprints that are very hard to read. (It took me more than an hour to get two acceptable fingerprints when I was signing up for the Registered Traveler program. In the end, they chose my iris scan as my identifier, not being able to rely on the fingerprints.)

Early in the decade, GMAC uncovered a test imposter ring. A ring of very proficient test takers would take the GMAT or another high-stakes test on behalf of someone else. We were able to crack that ring and we canceled GMAT scores and notified schools.

But we also discovered that the imposter ring was engaging in document fraud. In order to pose as a test taker, the imposter needed a government-issued identification such as a driver’s license or a passport. And so for the $3,000 to $5,000 that the ring charged their clients to take the test, they also produced very convincing but fraudulent documents.

The introduction of digital fingerprinting in 2006 was a step along our path of continuous improvement. The palm vein reader is but one more step. And our journey is not at an end. We are committed to continuously improving every aspect of the GMAT—from test items to supporting materials, to the measurement of more constructs, and, yes, to even tighter and improved security.