UPEK Eikon to Go Digital Privacy Manager for Mac review

With the Eikon To Go Privacy Manager fingerprint scanner, you can replace your user account password with a finger swipe.

After registering your fingerprints, set your login and authentication screens to prompt for a swipe, your password or both. Multiple users on the same Mac can register their prints with their own accounts, so you can use the scanner to facilitate user-switching too.

In a corporate environment, Eikon to Go would stop folks writing their passwords on Post-it notes and sticking them to their monitors. So, maybe it's of limited utility to the home user.

With admin privileges, you can get into your account with your password even when you're set to swipe-only, leaving your Mac vulnerable if someone pinches it. Yet a swipe-only login stops you changing your Eikon settings or uninstalling the application without a print. Just make sure you don't lose or break your unit…

In testing it performed well, recognising registered fingerprints almost every time and refusing to be fooled by 'hacking' attempts. A cut or grazed finger doesn't always read, but you can register as many fingers as you like.

Although Eikon to Go works on the Mac and PC, many features are Windows-only. If Mac users enjoyed functions such as File and Folder Encryption, Application Launching and Security Tokens, it might well find its worth outside the office. But as it stands, for the home Mac, it's pretty much a solution looking for a problem.

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