No job or school has ever required fingerprints or any other biometric information of me. And I strongly object when SSN is asked for to the point that I'll refrain from doing business with those that demand it, if I can possibly do so. If someone isn't from the Social Security Administration, they don't need to know my SSN, period.
There will be no serious boycott of this company for requiring fingerprints.
Just look at what happened when they put GPS trackers in cars and started fining people for speeding. They dropped that idea like a hot potato.
Considering the fact that the per rental profit is fairly low it would take hundreds of boycotters refusing rental to offset the loss of even one car.
I'm doing my part. If you are correct and profits favor fingerprinting, I'll do without rental cars. Firms that disrespect my privacy and treat me like a prospective criminal will not find my money in their cash register.
This is a tempest in a teapot.
This is a single example of a much larger, and extremely important issue - privacy.
Using mechanisms that result in higher charges to the customer such as tracking devices etc. are much different than mere security means of assuring identity. I would certainly not rent a car with those mechanisms but have heard nothing about them being dropped.
There is no privacy issue here; unless you wear gloves at all times you leave your fingerprints everywhere everyday.