Biometric Identity

Biometrics is the new buzz-word. It is projected as the technology that can

save us from terrorist attacks or even credit card frauds. A technology that can

save us from long waits at the security check counters at the airports. But don’t

be overwhelmed by the promised technology so soon. It will also give

unimaginable power to the Big Brother who always loves to be watching!

When

your thumb impression is linked to your identity, all that is required to make

your private life totally transparent is a central database linked to a

nation-wide network of computer terminals with attached thumb scanners! Your

biometric identity can be linked to your income tax permanent account number,

your credit card, your driving license or even your college or workplace

identity card.

On the negative side there is the real danger of an individual being

converted to Mr 4782-9684-5134-6897 and being constantly tracked. On the

positive side there is the biggest convenience of proving your identity quickly

beyond doubt, and the possibility of tracking the criminals and terrorists

wherever they go and of bringing them to justice.

The Mexican government used face-recognition software during the country’s

2000 presidential election to make sure that registered voters voted only once.

New York State welfare system has been using fingerprinting technology since

1998 to make recipients of state benefits get one and only one set of benefits,

saving the state millions in potential fraud.

Not yet perfect



Talking of biometrics, there is no single "best" biometric

technology. Different authenti-cation environments require different solutions.

• There are technologies, which
  
  provide high accuracy ... but they may be expensive or difficult to use,
  
  like the 3D-face geometry.

• There are technologies, which
  
  require almost no effort to use ... but they may be unable to provide a high
  
  enough level of accuracy. There may be many false rejections.

• There are technologies, which are
  
  easily integrated into existing infrastructure ... but they may not perform
  
  quickly enough to be deployed in many situations.

No single technology is ideally suited for all situations.

Luckily, there is a biometric technology (or combination of technologies) to

suit nearly every authentication need, from point of sale identification of a

credit card holder to high security installations like national R&D labs and

nuclear installations.

Setting better standards



One must also re-member that biometric security systems are not yet perfect.

For example, most face-recognition systems can be thrown off the track if the

camera’s view of a face is more than 15 percent off center.

The success of standards development is critical to

biometrics’ adoption in large-scale public and private institutions. Attempts

at standardization are underway in various areas of biometric technology,

including the mechanics of image capture, the density and type of data required,

the accuracy of "data" as it is extracted, legal and legislative

issues, security and privacy issues, and interoperability of devices.

The acceptance of biometrics in small-scale private

applications may not depend so much on standardization, but government and

financial institutions are often bound by stringent rules and guidelines

regarding standards. As long as stan-dardization efforts are conducted

intelligently and with proper inputs from all parties concerned, the biometric

industry will gain much more than it may lose through acceptance of standards as

against development of proprietary specifications.

Biometrics is not only important for security checks in

physical access control, it is equally important for the network or information

security applications. Biometric authen-tication when implemented can provide

levels of security and network access control much better than that provided by

passwords, PINs, or smart cards. Biometrics is on the verge of becoming an

essential part of a comprehensive information security framework of individual

authentication, and will soon become indispensable.

Flavors of biometrics



Biometric technologies can be broadly classified into three major groups:

Chip-based finger scanning: Chip-based sensors have no

moving parts and involve users placing their fingers directly onto silicon

chips. Chip-based finger scanners are now replacing optical finger scanners and

have gained significant market share because of their small size and low power

consumption.

This technology however is facing a controversy over fears of

public outcry over potential finger scanning projects involving customers, as

fingerprinting has long been associated with criminal investigation. But it is

not difficult to explain to customers the differences between fingerprinting and

finger scanning, as well as demons-trate the benefits the latter will provide.

Once customers understand the ease of pro-viding a fingerscan sample, and the

benefits of increased security, the reluctance will slowly go away.

Eye-scanning technologies: There are two parts of the

eye that are used for biometric identification and verification: the retina and

the iris. Both technologies appear to be very similar. However, the techno-logies

are very different in operation and each requires different levels of effort to

implement and operate successfully.

Face geometry: The FERET Database is a large

collection of facial images developed by the United States Army Research Labs to

advance the state-of-the-art in face recognition. A typical setup works by

taking 128 measurements of each face, such as the distance between the eyes, and

converts those dimensions into a unique binary code, which is then compared with

a photo database. Developers of the face geometry identification system claim

that a person can be identified with samples taken even up to ten years earlier

and even if the person gains weight during that period.

On the legal front there are still many unanswered ques-tions

about biometric techno-logy. Some of these include:

• Can biometric database be sold or
  
  exchanged?

• Can biometric information be
  
  obtained without consent?

• How do you secure the storage of
  
  the biometric templates?

• What happens if a legitimate
  
  customer is falsely rejected?

• How can one ensure that a given
  
  biometric submission is being used for a specific transaction and not
  
  misused for additional transactions without the knowledge of the customer?

Let us hope that these questions will be answered soon and

that the biometrics stan-dardization also goes through without any hassles.

There is no doubt that biometric technology holds the promise of a safer world

for coming generations.

Ashok Dongre can be contacted via e-mail at dongre@usa.net