Firms offer ‘fortune telling’ services based on fingerprints

These firms advertise their services with tempting tag lines saying, “Though you are not geniuses, you can become the parents of ones,” or “A 95% accurate representation of your future can help you achieve success sooner,” which have attracted many parents across the city.

After contacting a company in Phu Nhuan District, Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporters were told by a female receptionist that they will have someone arrive at the client’s house to collect their fingerprints, which will then be analyzed by a piece of Malaysian-developed software.

The service costs a total of VND2.8 million (US$124.2) and the process takes 10 days, the receptionist said.

The results offer 95% accuracy, which has been certified by some American institutes as well as confirmed by surveys conducted by the firm, she added.

An employee from another firm called K. in District 10 revealed that her company used Singaporean technology as the basis for a 40-page long report provided to clients.

An employee is pictured analyzing a client’s fingerprint at a firm in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The entire expense is VND3.1 million (US$137.5) and results are claimed to be 95% accurate, according to the employee.

“Our service is carried out by qualified employees, who were trained in Singapore, and has been offered to over 3,000 clients,” she said.

The analysis is said to point out the children’s strengths and weaknesses, personalities, ability to lead, manage problems, use languages and other individual personality differences, a staff member from a firm in District 3 said.

“I do not believe in such nonsense and people should not waste their time on those services,” said Professor Le Dinh Luong, chairman of the Vietnam Genetics Association.

Input data related to DNA, genes, cells, and chromosomes should be used instead of fingerprints to provide more convincing results, Prof. Luong explained.

Students are seen having their fingerprints analyzed at a school in Phu Nhuan District on December 19, 2015. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The use of fingerprints to determine a person’s future is not supported by reliable facts, according to Dr. Dinh Phuong Duy, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Educational Psychology Association.

Business operations that include the application of fingerprints could be extremely dangerous if not closely monitored as the data could be used for illegal activity including property appropriation through bank accounts, said Colonel Cao Van Den, deputy head of the Police Division for Administrative Management of Social Order under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Police.

Consequences could be exacerbated in the future as administrative management and several transactions could be carried out by electronic identification cards, Col. Den warned.

Nguyen Van Hau, Vice chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Lawyers Association, proposed that legislators verify the scientific background of the method and establish basic requirements in the storing and monitoring of clients’ fingerprints.

The analysis of fingerprints is not mentioned in the government’s list of banned businesses, vice chairman Hau said.

However, all companies that offer the services in the southern city have violated business regulations by not registering the correct field of operation, according to Nguyen Thi Thanh Nguyet, head of the Business Registration Office under the Department of Planning and Investment.

No business in the city has registered a service that analyzes clients’ fingerprints, she added.