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A comment on Fingerprints are usernames, not passwords (2013). Parent comment

Re:Fingerprints are usernames, not passwords (2013) by techno_modus on Friday September 15, 2017 @06:50AM (#15256056) 

  username   • password 
  public     • private 
  detachable • non-detachable 
  unique     • arbitrary
A name has to be unique. But it can simultaneously be used as a password if it is impossible to detach (copy) it and associate with another thing. One way to do it is to simply hide it like private keys and normal passwords but in this case it cannot be used as a name. An alternative approach is to make it difficult to copy/reproduce (similar to normal car or house keys). In the case of fingerprints, they can well be used as a password (in addition to its role as a name) until it is impossible to create artificial fingers and attach them to other persons.
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Re:Fingerprints are usernames, not passwords (2013) by Phemist on Friday September 15, 2017 @08:14AM (#15256440)
Fingerprints are not private though, so they fail your very first criterium of passwords. Fingerprints are also not arbitrary[1], it is possible to combine two (or more) fingerprints resulting in a new "fingerprint" in its own right, as well as being a fingerprint that is similar enough to the two (or more) original fingerprint to have a high chance of fooling most sensors on smart phones for all fingerprints involved. Also, uniqueness vs. arbitrariness smells like a false dichotomy to me. Something can be both arbitrary and unique (see for example uuids).

[1] - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/10/technology/fingerprint-se...

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