Airports are not the only place upping security these days.
An increasing number of professional programs now require students to give a digital print of their finger, thumb, or veins in their palm to write high-stakes entrance tests for professional programs such as medicine and business.
“In the middle of a test, we've had a student leave for a break and send someone else back in to write the next section that may have a different kind of focus," said Karen Mitchell, senior director of admissions testing services for the Association of American Medical Colleges, which runs the MCATs.
According to a Torstar News Service report, one test official said a husband once wrote a test for his wife wearing one of her dresses, but was discovered when his five-o'clock shadow began to show.
The latest technology being used to prevent cheating on these tests is the new palm scanners, which use infrared scanning of the blood vessels in a person’s palm.
These updated means of security are meant to prevent people writing entrance exams from having someone else take the test for them.
"It's unfortunate some people want to cheat to get the higher scores you need for better-known programs," said Rick Powers, executive director of the University of Toronto's master's of business administration(MBA) program. "For the integrity of the application process, we support this type of technology," he said.
However, many students view these new technologies as violations of privacy. At least three complaints to Canada’s privacy czar have been made against this change which will affect 266,000 students around the world, including 8,000 in Canada, who write the four-hour GMAT admissions test each year for a MBA program.