Frontiers of Biometrics Enhancing Security and Convenience 1
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In an increasingly digital world, biometrics is revolutionizing how we approach security and convenience. From unlocking smartphones to securing access to sensitive data, biometrics offers a unique blend of security and user-friendly experience. This article explores the frontiers of biometrics, highlighting how it enhances both security and convenience in various applications.
What is Biometrics?
Biometrics refers to the measurement and analysis of unique physical or behavioral characteristics to verify an individual’s identity. These characteristics include fingerprint patterns, facial recognition, iris scans, voice patterns, and even behavioral traits like typing rhythms. Biometrics technology leverages these unique traits to provide secure access and authentication, reducing the reliance on traditional passwords and PINs.
How Biometrics Enhances Security
1. Unmatched Accuracy
One of the key benefits of biometrics is its ability to provide unmatched accuracy in identity verification. Unlike passwords or PINs, which can be forgotten or stolen, biometrics relies on immutable physical traits that are unique to each individual. This makes biometrics a highly reliable method for preventing unauthorized access and protecting sensitive information.
2. Reduced Risk of Identity Theft
Biometrics significantly reduces the risk of identity theft. Traditional methods of authentication, such as passwords or credit card numbers, can be easily compromised through hacking or phishing attacks. In contrast, biometrics technology is much harder to replicate or forge. For example, while a password can be shared or stolen, biometric traits like fingerprints or iris patterns are unique and not transferable, providing a higher level of security.
3. Enhanced Fraud Prevention
In financial services and other sectors where fraud prevention is critical, biometrics offers a robust solution. Biometrics can be used to verify the identity of users during transactions, preventing fraudulent activities and ensuring that only authorized individuals can access accounts or make transactions. This added layer of security helps protect businesses and consumers from financial losses.
4. Improved Access Control
Biometrics enhances access control by providing a more secure and efficient method for managing physical and digital access. Whether it’s gaining entry to a secure facility or accessing confidential data on a computer, biometrics offers a streamlined solution that reduces the need for physical keys or passwords. This not only improves security but also simplifies the access process for users.
How Biometrics Enhances Convenience
1. Seamless Authentication
One of the most significant advantages of biometrics is the convenience it offers. Unlike traditional authentication methods, which require users to remember and enter passwords, biometrics provides a seamless authentication experience. A simple fingerprint scan, facial recognition, or voice command can quickly verify an individual’s identity, making the process faster and more user-friendly.
2. Eliminates the Need for Passwords
With biometrics, the need for passwords is eliminated. This not only simplifies the user experience but also reduces the risk of password-related issues, such as forgotten passwords or the use of weak passwords. By relying on biometric traits, users can access their devices and accounts without the hassle of remembering and managing multiple passwords.
3. Efficient User Experience
Biometrics enhances the user experience by providing a quick and efficient method for authentication. Whether it’s unlocking a smartphone, logging into a computer, or accessing a secure facility, biometrics eliminates the need for time-consuming processes like typing passwords or inserting cards. This results in a smoother and more efficient experience for users.
4. Personalized Interactions
In addition to enhancing security and convenience, biometrics can also enable personalized interactions. For example, voice recognition technology can tailor responses based on the user’s preferences or historical data. Facial recognition can be used to customize device settings or content based on individual profiles. This personalization adds an extra layer of convenience and enhances the overall user experience.
The Future of Biometrics
As biometrics technology continues to advance, we can expect to see several exciting developments on the horizon:
1. Integration with Artificial Intelligence
The integration of biometrics with artificial intelligence (AI) will enhance its capabilities and applications. AI-powered biometrics systems will be able to analyze and interpret biometric data with greater accuracy, making authentication even more reliable. For example, AI algorithms can improve facial recognition accuracy by accounting for changes in lighting, angles, or facial expressions.
2. Expansion into New Applications
Biometrics is set to expand into new applications beyond traditional security measures. For instance, biometric authentication is becoming increasingly common in smart home devices, wearables, and even healthcare applications. This expansion will drive further innovation and integration of biometrics technology into various aspects of daily life.
3. Enhanced Privacy and Security Measures
As biometrics technology becomes more prevalent, there will be an increased focus on privacy and security measures. Ensuring that biometric data is stored and transmitted securely will be critical to maintaining user trust and preventing data breaches. Advances in encryption and secure storage solutions will play a vital role in addressing these concerns.
4. Advancements in Multimodal Biometrics
Multimodal biometrics, which combines multiple biometric traits for authentication, will become more prevalent. For example, integrating fingerprint recognition with facial recognition or voice recognition can provide an additional layer of security and reduce the likelihood of false positives. Multimodal biometrics will enhance the reliability and robustness of authentication systems.
Conclusion: Embrace the Power of Biometrics
The frontiers of biometrics are transforming the way we approach security and convenience. By leveraging unique physical and behavioral traits, biometrics offers unparalleled accuracy, reduced risk of identity theft, and enhanced access control. Simultaneously, it simplifies authentication, eliminates the need for passwords, and provides a seamless user experience.
As biometrics technology continues to evolve, embracing its potential will be crucial for staying ahead in an increasingly digital world. Whether you’re securing sensitive data, streamlining access processes, or enhancing user interactions, biometrics offers a powerful solution for modern security and convenience needs.
Embrace the power of biometrics today and unlock a new level of security and convenience for your business or personal use. With its ability to enhance both protection and user experience, biometrics is poised to be at the forefront of technological innovation in the years to come.
Biometrics is a branch of information technology that helps us identify individuals based on their personal traits. Every person possesses unique characteristics that distinguish them from others. Physical attributes include fingerprint patterns, hair color, and facial geometry, while behavioral traits encompass signature style and typing patterns.
Through these distinctive features, each individual becomes distinguishable. Therefore, we can verify the identity of any person based on their unique characteristics.
Next, let’s discuss what a biometric system is. It’s a technological tool that captures and processes both physical and behavioral inputs to authenticate identity.
Moving on, how does subscription to intriguing information technology in the field of science aid us? Subscription helps us verify individuals and manage authorization. The authorization process varies for each biometric system. It typically involves a one-to-one process where biometric information is compared against the entire database. This information is then stored in our database for future reference.
Following verification, the system grants authorization based on the level of match. If the match exceeds 70%, the biometric system allows access. Otherwise, it denies access and prompts for further verification.
Authorization entails granting specific permissions to users. For example, if I lend my cellphone to someone, they can make calls, but accessing the gallery requires a password. This limited access ensures security.
Now, let’s delve into the four basic components of a biometric system. First is the input interface, which comprises sensors that convert biological data into digital signals. Then, the processing unit digitizes this data for comparison. The system matches the captured template with the input data to verify identity. Finally, the system grants access based on the level of match.
Biometric systems play a crucial role in identity verification and access control, utilizing a combination of physical and behavioral characteristics.
Fingerprint Recognition:
we’ve been using fingerprint sensors for a while now. Maybe you have one on your phone, tablet, or even laptop. You might be wondering, are they also based on neural networks and deep learning? Well, they could be, but usually not because they don’t require that. You don’t need to learn anything; you just need to be able to distinguish if this fingerprint impression is the same as the one used before.
Basically, the first thing we do is try to extract meaningful features from your fingertip and characterize your fingerprint. Then, when you want to identify yourself, you need to double-check if these match, what we call minutia points.
Let’s take a look at two fingerprints on the iPad. Oh, it did work. Here we have two fingerprints. Sean, do you think these two are from the same person? Yes, or no?
[Sean] This is sort of… I’m gonna call it a roundy bit here and a roundy bit on that one. [Sean] And then there’s kind of a triangly bit there and a triangly bit on that one. [Sean] So they look similar. um… [Sean] I think I’d have to cut one out, overlay it over the other one, and then maybe I’d be able to work it out.
Exactly, they do belong to the same person. It’s good you detected that correctly, but you need to be more confident next time. Otherwise, how do you unlock your phone?
So, the first process we do is called feature extraction. Most algorithms identify the region of interest and cut it out because you don’t need the rest. Two impressions of the same finger may look slightly different due to where you place your finger on the sensor and the pressure you apply.
Regarding feature extraction, there are many different features you can extract, many of which are about orientations. These include the orientation of the fingerprint ridges and distinctive points like the core and deltas.
For recognition, classification relies on these points, but for matching, other features like ridge endings and bifurcations are important. After a thinning and segmentation process, minutia points are annotated based on the direction and changes in the ridge pattern.
Next is matching, where each fingerprint impression results in a different set of minutia points due to variations in pressure or placement. Matching algorithms align these sets, considering factors like rotation or partial prints, to determine similarity.
Normally, only the minutia points are stored, not the whole fingerprint image, as it’s faster and more precise for matching. Feature extraction plus matching solves the problem of fingerprint recognition efficiently.
How Fingerprint Recognition Works
Majorly, three biometric behaviors are used for identification: fingerprint, iris, and face. Fingerprint recognition is the widely adopted biometrics technology for identification. Let’s check out how fingerprint recognition is done in our biometric devices.
The first step involves fingerprint template formation, which is also called minutia extraction. When the original fingerprint is extracted from the optical sensor, a monochrome image of the fingerprint is formed in 8-bit grayscale. The 8-bit grayscale is converted into zeros and ones depending on the nearby pixels. This is done with the help of an algorithm. After getting the grayscale image of the original fingerprint, a fur filter converts the image into a single thin line, resulting in a sharp image. After that, a Gabor filter is used, which forms a 4×4 block of pixels. Then valleys, ridges, and bifurcations are marked. Almost 15 to 20 minutiae are marked. The final image formed is the desired fingerprint template, which is an array of 240×320 pixels in the range of 200 to 500 bytes.
Step two involves a fingerprint matching algorithm. Two matching algorithms are used: one-to-one and one-to-n. In one-to-one matching, an employee shows his card number, which instructs the database to retrieve his fingerprint template. The fingerprint template in the database is then matched with the extracted fingerprint. In one-to-n matching, the extracted fingerprint is matched with fingerprint templates stored in the database. This complete process is handled by a dedicated DSP at 400 MHz, and all this process is done in a few seconds.
Facial Recognition:
If you’re out of the house and want to know when a family member gets home, our facial recognition feature will send you a push notification complete with a timestamp and name tag directly to your phone. To activate this feature, go into settings, tap on “AI recognition” located under Amarillo features, and turn on face recognition. Underneath that, you will find the face list where you can start adding faces of the people that you wish the camera to recognize.
Facial recognition alerts can be viewed by tapping the notifications icon in the main toolbar. When an alert is received, you have the option to activate two-way communications through the camera or sound an alarm. If the biometric camera picks up a face it hasn’t learned yet, you can use the quick learning function to tag them directly from the notification, training your camera to recognize that face in the future.
Amarillo biometric cameras can recognize faces up to ten feet away, and this feature is completely free with the camera purchase. Take some time to get to know your camera and let your camera get to know you.
Iris Recognition:
Please help utilize what biometric technologies could look like, and today, one of these technologies, iris recognition, has finally been realized.
First of all, why iris? For one, the iris is a part of the body that doesn’t change its appearance over the span of a person’s lifetime unless it’s damaged by external force. So iris recognition is different from other biometric technologies in that its target almost permanently remains in the same form that it was first registered. Iris patterns are also unique; genetically identical twins have different iris patterns, and even the patterns of one person’s two eyes are different from each other. The probability of two different people having an identical iris pattern is 1 in 10 to the 78th power. This means that even when the entire humanity that ever lived on Earth is taken into account, it is very unlikely that two irises have an identical pattern. These characteristics make iris a good biometric to identify people.
So then, how does iris recognition work? The first stage of iris recognition technology is having a person’s eyes scanned, usually via an infrared camera. The pattern of the iris is isolated from the rest of the image, analyzed, and put into a system of coordinates. Extracting these coordinates as digital information, and voila, you have the iris signature. Such encrypted iris signatures cannot be restored or reproduced, even if they are disclosed. Now, a user only needs to make quick eye contact with the infrared camera whenever he or she needs authentication.
How will iris recognition technology be used moving forward? Iris recognition technology has actually been in the news and fields that require a high level of security. Now, it can be popularized for broader applications where an authentication process is necessary. When you go through an immigration office, for example, or in hospitals’ identification, it will certainly make a great leap forward as a safe and easy authentication system. In the IoT era, one area iris recognition technology is exciting is the fintech industry. Iris recognition offers even easier access to fintech; mobile banking can be done quickly and easily.
It will make buying and selling products, stock exchange, and all kinds of activities that involve the transfer of money safe and easy. The number of people using simplex with the help of such biometric technologies is expected to increase dramatically from 0.12 billion people in 2015 to 1.1 billion in 2020. As a leader in the Internet of Things, Samsung is looking to establish one of the most famous ecosystems in the world of connected devices. It will be accurate and easy for access, inviting users and partners to enjoy the ecosystem.
Voice Recognition:
The equipment takes the sound and converts it into a picture. It then compares the known pictures it has. Have you ever watched a show called Forensic Files? They often depict individuals examining fingerprints manually, as they used to do in the old days. They would literally take one print and overlay it on another to determine if they matched. Similarly, this machinery performs a similar task. It looks at what it has captured and turns that sound into a picture, often represented as graphs and waves. It then compares this picture with the recorded known pictures, asking, “Does this look the same?” For example, when someone says “two,” does it look the same as when we recorded her saying “two” the first time? This comparison results in a confidence level, ranging from 0% to 100%. This confidence level determines whether it’s a match or not, which is then indicated by a green, yellow, or red acknowledgment. If it’s not a match, no details on the person are provided.
Behavioral Biometrics:
Behavioral biometrics is a type of biometrics that analyzes how a user or a device behaves rather than what they are. It is more secure, convenient, and adaptable than other methods of authentication on smart devices. There are different technologies and algorithms that can use behavioral biometric data on smart devices. For example, keystroke dynamics measures how a user types on a keyboard or a touchscreen. Touchscreen dynamics measures how a user touches, swipes, taps, or scrolls on a touchscreen device.
Motion analysis measures how a user holds, moves, or shakes their smart device. Network analysis measures how a device connects, communicates, or interacts with other devices or networks. These technologies can identify a user or a device based on their unique patterns and characteristics, such as typing speed, finger size, hand posture, IP address, and so on. Behavioral biometrics can provide a more reliable, convenient, and flexible way to authenticate users or devices on smart devices compared to other methods.
Applications and Characteristics of Biometrics
We’ve explored the diverse realms biometrics can permeate and the applications spanning from commercial to forensic. We delved into how biometrics is widely used and its various definitions, as well as performance measures. Now, let’s focus on the main applications of biometrics. By application, I mean utilizing a person’s biometric data to authenticate various processes. This could involve tasks such as phone unlocking, making internet transactions, or verifying a person’s identity. All these tasks involve the use of biometric data. Currently, we might not have this in every scenario, but in the future, it’s inevitable due to the encryption and security biometric data offers. The applications can be classified under three main categories: commercial, government, and forensic.
Commercial applications mostly entail electronic data security, e-commerce, internet access, ATM usage, credit card transactions (often using fingerprints), mobile phone and laptop unlocking, among others. Government applications include nationalized ID cards, PAN cards, and driving licenses, where fingerprints are commonly used for enrollment and verification. Forensic applications involve analyzing evidence such as bloodstains, DNA tests, and identifying individuals from a single strand of hair. These applications are categorized into commercial, government, and forensic sectors. Each sector has its specific requirements and uses for biometric data.
For instance, in Tamil Nadu, we have a biometric system to verify ration cardholders’ identities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, fingerprint scans were used for certain government reforms. These are classic examples of government biometric applications. There are numerous such cases, and to learn more, you can refer to the materials provided in this book.
Moving on to biometric characteristics, these define the uniqueness of a biometric system. Characteristics such as universality, uniqueness, permanence, measurability, performance, acceptability, and circumvention play crucial roles in determining the effectiveness of a biometric system. No single biometric trait can effectively meet all requirements. Each has its strengths and limitations. For example, while iris scans are universal for most individuals, they may not be usable for visually impaired people. Similarly, while fingerprints are unique and permanent, they may not be suitable for individuals without limbs.
Therefore, it’s essential to understand that no single biometric trait is ideal for all scenarios, but a combination of them can be effective. This concludes the first part of our session on biometrics, covering its applications and characteristics.
Security:
My fingerprint, my face, the way I move — all of these can be turned into unique biometrics and used to identify me. For example, for making online payments. But how secure is this technology really?
Once, on shift when I wait at a bar, a system registers my face and lets the barman know which customer is next in line. I’ve never found my face more useful. I use my fingerprint to unlock my phone and to gain access to this high-security area. A computer first needs to scan my body movements. Biometrics are increasingly replacing typical passwords and access keys. For example, biometric systems can recognize a person’s specific physical attributes, such as their fingerprints, facial features, iris, or retina. The technology is already used around the world by the Somali army, Indian doctors, and for authenticating patients for important drugs, or for online banking on smartphones. There are even systems that look under your skin, so to speak, such as infrared scanners that are used in vein matching. Oxygen-poor blood in veins absorbs more infrared light than surrounding tissue, so vein patterns can be matched.
Scientists are currently developing technology that can recognize a person based on their heartbeat. Others are working on identifying a person by their brainwaves. Sounds like biometrics are super practical. I no longer need those endless letter, number, and character password combinations — happy days! Or is there a catch? We talked to Professor Christophe Miner to find out. He teaches internet technologies and systems at a post-stem-based Research Institute.
“What’s more secure, Professor — passwords or biometrics? Using your fingerprint to login is obviously more convenient. You just put your finger on the reader or identify it, and then you’re in. That’s much easier than typing a password. Passwords are often weak and a little out of date, but password-protected systems are easy to implement. That’s probably why they’re so common. That’s a cost issue. The more sensors I can use to scan a fingerprint or face, the more accurately I can capture someone’s biometric profile. As for the security of this technology, it depends on how well it’s implemented. If there are enough sensors, this is more secure than passwords.”
Swishing your skin, swishing finger up, talking iris recognition, fingerprint scans, and facial recognition are similar in the sense that they all check for a single constant biometric feature by which the system recognizes me. A password, by contrast, is something I need to memorize. I shouldn’t write it down anywhere because otherwise, anyone who finds it can pretend to be me. The future is multi-factor authentication, or at least two-factor authentication, and I think that ultimately, the most user-friendly systems will be the ones used the most.
So, biometric identification is convenient, but is our personal data safe? Companies using this tech have to ensure that biometric data is securely stored and encrypted, ideally on end-user devices and not in some cloud. This makes it harder for hackers to access. Unfortunately, that’s not always done. A team of Israeli researchers managed to hack into a 23 gigabyte database with over 27 million records containing fingerprints, facial profiles, and much more. But of course, password databases have also been compromised.
Beyond large-scale hacks, there’s also a risk of individual systems and devices being cracked. And I’m a bit worried about how successful hackers have been at outwitting biometrics. A password can be stolen; someone can watch you enter it somewhere or find where you wrote it down, or even just guess it. This can’t happen with biometric identification tech. Biometrics are convenient and save users from having to remember passwords, but unlike passwords, you can’t change your biometric data if it’s been hacked. And under lab conditions, hackers have managed to outsmart biometric encryption technologies. For instance, they duped an iPhone fingerprint scanner using a fingerprint they’d lifted from a glass.
And combining a picture of a person’s iris with a contact lens got them past a Samsung phone iris scanner. Hackers from Germany’s Chaos Computer Club have developed a wax hand that fooled a palm vein scanner. And Chinese hackers spoofed Apple’s Face ID liveness detection technology with just a pair of glasses and some tape. We should stress all these hacks were carried out under lab conditions. The quality of a system’s sensors largely determines how safe it is, which means smartphones are easier to outwit than elaborate security systems.
Clearly, biometrics aren’t as safe as you might think. Even though a scenario like taking a fake wax hand along to break into a high-security area isn’t very realistic either. Still, many tech companies keep rolling out biometric security features. The latest Apple and Google smartphones, for example, let you make payments using facial recognition tech. Pretty convenient. But is my personal data safe with these companies? And what if companies or states get too nosy? In Great Britain, CCTV cameras are ubiquitous. The average Londoner is caught on camera 300 times every day. What if facial recognition technology were applied to analyze that CCTV footage? Surveillance cameras are widespread in Britain, and London has been called Europe’s CCTV capital. People have even begun using them independently of the authorities.
“Because you can go on Facebook now, get people’s profile images, and as easy as that, upload them onto your own software. Criminals, etc., in the area, please upload their images all over the online, and you can pick up them images, add them to your security system. When the person crosses your cameras, your system picks it up. So it’s as easy as that.” Not easy, perhaps, but it’s also an invasion of privacy. In Britain, many are used to CCTV cameras, but since authorities have started combining surveillance cameras with facial recognition tech, some say this goes too far. People like Edie Bridges from Cardiff, who recently made a shocking discovery.
“The van was parked just around the corner, and by the time I was close enough to see ‘facial recognition technology’ written on the van, it had already captured my data several times over. And that felt like an invasion of my privacy. I’m a law-abiding member of the public. I was going about my daily business. I wasn’t committing any crime. I was no threat to anyone. And yet, the police were there, filming me and capturing my data.” Essentially, Bridges took the Welsh Police to court and lost. He’s currently appealing that ruling, but for now, police continue to use their tech, scanning hundreds of faces per second, checking them against wanted lists.
“We are learning, we are developing, and there are actually people being taken off the streets who are wanted for offenses or harm to the public as a direct result of the deployment of this technology.” The question remains whether the ends really justify the means. If you ask me, we should all be wary of handing out our biometric data. I wonder if the convenience outweighs the potential risks. Researchers are already working on so-called cancel biometrics. Here, the biometric data is encrypted before it’s stored. In a nutshell, this means that not my actual face is stored, but a digitally altered version. If anyone hacks the system, I can delete my data and create a new biometric password. That sounds pretty good.
Border Control:
The integration of biometrics into the travel sphere is changing the landscape of travel. Many countries now require facial and fingerprint scanning for visa applications, while airports like Dubai have introduced face and iris scanners as alternatives to passport verification. Biometric fusion provides valuable information, such as the traveler’s criminal history and protection status, enhancing security and protecting individuals from identity theft.
The widespread adoption of biometrics in travel leads to increased security, streamlined check-in processes, and automated travel experiences. Digital identification methods facilitate expedited air travel, eliminating the need for in-person queues. They also assist in monitoring cases of overstaying and detecting fraudulent documentation. Governments recognize the economic benefits of investing in biometric technology, as seamless and secure customer experiences at airports contribute to the overall global GDP.
In the current scenario where tourist activities are rebounding, digital travel solutions are crucial. Multi-biometrics allow for instant recognition and verification of passenger credentials, ensuring a seamless journey. Countries like the United States and China have been pioneers in implementing biometrics in travel and immigration procedures since the early 2000s.
Today, biometrics has become an integral part of hassle-free travel for millions of people worldwide, driven by the need to reduce touch points in public places and the widespread acceptance of biometrics and AI-based technologies. Biometric fusion, also known as multibiometrics, is a growing technology that combines multiple types of biometric identification, such as fingerprint detection, facial verification, and iris scanning. This approach allows for comprehensive and rapid identification by accessing various biometric data repositories.
In the context of border control and immigration procedures, biometric fusion is revolutionizing the way governments safeguard against unauthorized entries, verify the legitimacy of travelers, and expedite immigration processes. Governments worldwide utilize multibiometrics as a crucial verification tool during visa formalities and immigration procedures. It ensures the accuracy of traveler information and enables the timely delivery of necessary services to immigrants.
Additionally, in the post-COVID world, biometrics play a vital role in enabling contactless travel and offering safer verification options at airports.
Financial Services:
Biometric fusion is revolutionizing financial services by amalgamating multiple biometric traits to enhance identity authentication. By combining features like fingerprints, facial recognition, and iris patterns, this technology offers heightened accuracy and reliability in verifying individuals. Its applications in financial services include identity verification, fraud prevention, and access control, providing a more secure and seamless alternative to traditional authentication methods like passwords or PINs.
Despite its benefits, challenges abound in adopting biometric fusion in financial services. Privacy concerns arise due to the collection and storage of biometric data, necessitating robust encryption and access controls to safeguard sensitive information. Additionally, the threat of spoofing attacks underscores the importance of investing in anti-spoofing measures like liveness detection technologies to mitigate fraudulent activities. Regulatory compliance also poses a significant challenge, requiring adherence to stringent laws governing the use of biometric data.
In conclusion, while biometric fusion offers immense promise for enhancing security and efficiency in financial services, responsible deployment is crucial. Navigating challenges related to privacy, security, and regulatory compliance is imperative to ensure the ethical and trustworthy implementation of this technology. Embracing biometric fusion represents a proactive step towards safeguarding assets and maintaining trust in the digital age. But careful consideration of its implications is essential for its successful integration into financial systems.
Moreover, the inherent complexity of implementing biometric fusion systems presents additional hurdles for financial institutions. Integrating multiple biometric modalities and ensuring seamless interoperability with existing infrastructure demands significant investments in both technology and expertise. However, overcoming these challenges can yield substantial benefits, including enhanced fraud detection capabilities, improved customer experience, and strengthened security measures.
As financial institutions continue to navigate the evolving landscape of digital finance, embracing biometric fusion represents a strategic move towards staying ahead of emerging threats and ensuring the integrity of financial transactions.
Healthcare:
The first step to improve patient care and safety in healthcare is being able to accurately identify patients. Biometrics deliver fast and easy patient identity assurance, and it can’t be forgotten, stolen, or forged. Biometric patient identification can reduce medical errors, eliminate duplicate medical records, improve patient data accuracy, verify eligibility of care, prevent identity fraud, comply with healthcare regulations, and improve the patient experience. It’s the future of healthcare, and that future is now.
Law Enforcement:
Biometric Fusion, also known as multibiometrics, has revolutionized the field of law enforcement, according to Baha Abdul Hadi. By combining various biometric data such as fingerprints, facial scans, and iris prints, multibiometrics has transformed how information is accessed and utilized across industries. Law enforcement, in particular, has greatly benefited from this technology on both national and international levels.
Biometric Fusion enables law enforcement personnel to access multiple databases simultaneously, allowing for quick and accurate analysis of voluminous amounts of data. This advanced technology has significantly improved forensic investigations, providing enhanced accuracy, faster processing, and refined imaging techniques. Searches can now yield instant successful matches, with facial recognition technology even capable of detecting deception.
While the cost of implementing multi-biometric systems may be higher than traditional methods, governments worldwide are increasingly investing in this technology due to its promising future. Middle Eastern countries are employing iris-based biometrics for public use, while European nations are embracing voice biometrics in forensic examinations.
The ability to verify identity quickly and accurately can be a matter of life and death in many cases. The field of biometrics is evolving to meet the changing needs of modern society, from crime prevention to enhanced security and surveillance. Portable biometric devices now allow police officers to perform real-time searches across multi-biometric databases, reducing time and effort.
Despite some concerns surrounding personal data protection and issues of racism in facial detection software, the benefits of biometrics outweigh the drawbacks. Multimodal biometrics, which combine different biometric modalities, are increasingly becoming common in various settings, including airports and government buildings. As countries continue to adopt and refine biometric technologies, the future of digital verification looks promising.
Advantages of Biometrics
Biometrics are biological measures or physical characteristics that can be used to identify people. These may include fingerprints, facial recognition, and retinal exams. Biometrics might be very effective in the future, as they are precise and exact. They stand out as a beginning for an effective and safe technological advancement for people. We agree that biometrics has been changing the world, as it can also be obtained with voice recognition, signature dynamics, and certain ways objects are used. Biometrics will continue to develop in the future, with more people requiring or needing this technology.
One of the advantages is that if you want to be an evolved human and keep your information safe and non-transferable, the most important thing would be to use this technology, as it offers more security through your physiology. Additionally, it is based on statistical algorithms; therefore, it cannot be 100 percent reliable if it does not have the support of cyclical data that belongs to the person and helps in the development of new metrics.
Ethical Considerations
Biometric authentication refers to security processes that verify a user’s identity through unique biological traits such as retinas, irises, voice, facial structure, and fingerprints. Biometric authentication systems store this biometric data to verify a user’s identity when they access their account, and the use of biometric technology is now becoming widely adopted by many consumers, businesses, and governments.
There are two main types of biometrics: physiological and behavioral. Physiological, also known as physical biometrics, analyze data such as facial features, eye structures, finger parameters, palm topography, hand structure, vein patterns, thermal signatures, and many more.
While behavioral biometrics are based on a person’s behavioral characteristics, evaluating the unique behavior and subconscious movements of a person in the process of reproducing any actions. For example, the way you type, the way you write your signature, how you walk, how your lips move when you talk, and the way you speak.
Biometric technology offers us many benefits in our personal and professional lives. Some of the benefits it provides include convenience. Biometrics makes our lives easier and helps us get things done faster. We can unlock our phone using our facial structure, log in to our bank accounts and emails using our fingerprint, and control our electronic devices such as phones, TVs, and computers with our voice. Another benefit biometric technology provides is security. Today’s biometric authentication is generally more secure than traditional passwords because every individual has their own unique characteristics, and data cannot be guessed or stolen in the same fashion as a traditional password.
In businesses, biometric technology has helped companies become more reliable, increase their productivity, and be more cost-effective. Furthermore, it helps them increase their efficiency, time management, and reduce absenteeism. However, biometric technology, like any other technology, still has numerous flaws and weak spots. Such imperfections cause various ethical issues.
Firstly, the violation of privacy is one of the primary concerns. A clear violation of privacy occurs when biometric information is captured without the affected individual’s consent. For example, the Tampa Police Department used facial recognition technology during the 2001 Super Bowl game, compiling images of over 100,000 attendees via CCTV images, and compared them back to the police database. Here’s another example: in 2017, Six Flags was sued because they failed to provide a written disclosure that they were scanning and collecting fingerprints from park visitors and distributing gathered biometric information to other sources. The court dismissed the case because nobody experienced any harmful effects from that incident.
Moreover, the violation of privacy could also occur in the workplace when employers track their employees’ biometric data to see if they are being productive or not. For instance, if the pupil size or vital signs are being tracked at work, the result might indicate that the employee is more or less productive. However, what if the employee is wearing glasses, which make it harder for the sensor to see the eyes, or the employee has a medical condition that lowers or increases their blood pressure? Lower blood pressure means they are not working, while higher blood pressure means they are working really hard. Are they going to be fired or get a negative performance review just because their biometrics aren’t what’s expected? I think that’s a big issue.
Secondly, accessibility poses a challenge. How will the population with disabilities be enrolled or authenticated in biometric databases? People with only one hand, no iris or retina, no fingers, burnt fingerprints, or mute individuals may suffer discrimination and unnecessary delays in biometric systems.
Thirdly, racial bias is a concern. A study organized by the U.S. government in 2002 showed that the identification rate for males was six to nine percent higher than females, and the recognition rate for older people was higher than for younger people. Furthermore, the study found that Asians, African Americans, and other races are easier to recognize than Caucasians. Such technological shortcomings could lead to wrongful accusations followed by wrongful arrests for offenses that a person did not commit.
Lastly, there is a security risk. A biometric template is nothing more than another binary file in a database; therefore, it can be stolen by hackers, unlike traditional passwords. If biometric databases are not properly protected and information is stolen, the consequences can be permanently devastating. Our biometric data cannot be changed; it is permanent. There is no easy way to program a biometric system to not recognize an authentic user’s legitimate biometrics if hackers get a hold of your biometric data; they’ll be able to use it wherever, whenever, and however they want.
With that being said, I would recommend mandating a substantial number of ethics courses for students pursuing engineering, programming, computer science, and any degree involving technology. Also, I recommend implementing the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) nationwide to protect our biometric information. If all states have strict BIPA regulations in place, it will lead to fewer privacy and security issues. Moreover, transparency about biometric technology helps workplaces operate and maintain a healthy environment during difficult times. First, make sure you are working with a provider that you trust. Second, be transparent with your employees about why you are using technology and collecting their specific data.
If the data is creating a safer work environment, then employees will be understanding and try their best to help. One way to address concerns is to be transparent with employees about why you are implementing technology, what you will do with it, and how the data will be used. Finally, ensure technicians receive appropriate education and training. Most biometric technicians are trained on-site by the vendor’s personnel. Typical activities of these technicians include collecting samples for enrollment, using complex sensors, authenticating identity documents of individuals before enrolling them, maintaining the biometric facility under proper conditions, following maintenance protocols correctly, and judging the quality of the samples collected. Technicians who are not well-trained can hinder the expected security level of a facility and cause a data leak.
In conclusion, biometric technology proves to be useful in today’s society and will only continue to advance at an imaginable pace. However, the interconnection of people’s social gadgets like computers, laptops, cars, and smartphones renders it vulnerable to criminals to hack, access, steal, and damage their information. Biometrics deployment aims to solve security, authentication, and privacy concerns. However, biometric technology application comes with underlying ethical and legal troubles due to insufficient legal and regulatory guidance. Hence, this situation requires that governments and organizations seeking to establish and implement biometric technology formulate an agreeable standard that certifies system facilities and personnel. Certification of systems and personnel eliminates bias, misuse, and mishandling of biometric information, thereby eradicating possible ethical and legal issues. home