Biometrics
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In the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., security concerns, both in the physical world and in cyberspace, took on a renewed prominence, with calls for increasingly high tech and foolproof safeguards, including identity verification technologies designed to ensure only approved persons have access to buildings, computer systems, accounts, and so on. Biometrics technology was increasingly viewed as a major barrier against security threats of various kinds, from identity theft to terrorism. Biometrics measures physical characteristics unique to each human being, such as fingerprints, retinal and iris patterns, facial structure, and even vocal inflections and the rhythms of an individual's signature and typing strokes. These measurements are then stored in a computer database and used in security applications to recognize or verify a person's identity.
The surge in identity theft, stolen passwords, and other forms of electronically based mischief provided another impetus to the adoption of biometrics technologies. Biometrics verifies actual persons, rather than cards, passwords, or personal identification numbers, all of which can be shared or stolen. Unlike other forms of identification, such as passwords, biometrics identity verification systems require the subject's physical presence, thus making illicit use a much more complicated affair. With acts of computer crime at an all-time high and companies, governments, and consumers increasingly wary of their sensitive personal or financial information falling into the hands of unscrupulous individuals, biometrics makers were poised to tap into ripe market conditions.
For several years, demand lagged behind the technology's maturity. Prohibitive implementation costs, lingering technical problems, fears of privacy invasion, and concerns over system accuracy stalled mass implementation. By the middle of the first decade of the twenty-first century, biometric systems were well entrenched in some sectors, particularly government and health care, but penetration was meager for other industries that were long on promise, such as financial services and the travel industry. In 2006, governmental applications remained the predominant market for biometrics, while certain types of biometrics systems enjoyed overwhelming dominance. Together, fingerprint and hand scanners represented the majority of all deployed biometrics technologies.
But the heightened security consciousness in 2001-2004 was making a noticeable impression on the industry's prospects. Decreasing costs and increasing technical sophistication of products meant that biometrics was gradually penetrating many kinds of transactions. Biometrics technology in the early and middle years of the twenty-first century's first decade thus enjoyed a period of modest but promising growth, moving out of the realm of science fiction and into everyday life. The New York-based consulting firm International Biometric Group, the industry's leading research and advocacy organization and advocacy, expected the global market for biometrics products of all stripes to rise from $1.2 billion in 2004 to $2.1 billion in 2006, and then climb to $5.7 billion in 2010.
Once relegated to the realm of comic books, science fiction films, and Orwellian predictions of oppressive governmental surveillance of civilian populations, biometrics systems have been used for some time by sectors such as law enforcement, defense installations, and nuclear facilities because of the extremely high level of security they demand. But the rapid proliferation of electronic record keeping, ATM banking, e-commerce, and widespread air travel created new demands for increased security in many venues of ordinary life. Producers of biometric devices are rushing to meet those needs; and also to provide identification systems that monitor those entering college dormitories, seeking driver's licenses, claiming welfare payments, or trying to immigrate.
Biometric devices record and store a template of unique biological or behavioral features. That template is later matched against features obtained from an individual for purposes of verification or identification. In the former case, a person uses two forms of input (for example, a personal identification number, or PIN, and a biometric), and a computer verifies whether the data match. In the latter, a person provides a biometric (such as a picture taken at a border crossing), and a computer uses that data to identify the person.
Most biometrics systems can only verify. Identification systems have to be more powerful because they don't involve cues from PINs or access cards. The computer has to search its entire database and compare biometric data for all its enrolled users—a time-consuming enterprise—until a match is made or the data is rejected as unidentified.
Biometric systems often include safeguards to ensure that a live person is the source of the data. A fingerprint system, for example, may require the detection of body heat before it will validate a fingerprint. Similarly, a voice recognition system may look for air pressure to prevent the use of a tape recording.
Fingerprints. With as many as 60 variations to analyze and compare, fingerprints are the most widely used biometric in forensic and government databases. The trend is toward compiling databases into national, statewide, and regional networks. Technology is becoming available to allow sharing of fingerprint data from dissimilar systems. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) maintains the integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. With 630 million images, it's the world's largest fingerprint database. Biometric devices may measure prints, dimensions, patterns, or topography of fingers, thumbs, or palms. At one time fingers were inked and pressed on paper to create a print, but by the late 1990s, fingerprint scanners, such as those used by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, required no ink. With a mere touch of a glass plate or silicon chip, details of one's print are recorded and stored in an electronic database. Scanners can be integrated into keyboards, notebooks, and mice.
Fingerprinting is gaining popularity. Many banks use thumbprints to identify customers. Toronto-based Mytec Technologies Inc. developed a fingerprint scanner used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to identify individuals and by the Louvre museum in Paris to control access to secured areas. Fingerprint readers at an Amsterdam airport let frequent flyers avoid long lines at passport control. In addition, many state governments in the United States use fingerprint data to verify eligibility for welfare. The city of Oceanside, California purchased 2,400 finger scanners and BioLogon software from Identix, Inc. to evade the costs and hassles of having to change forgotten municipal employee passwords. The city often received as many as 75 password change requests per day before the switch to biometrics. The analyst firms the Gartner Group and Forrester reported that password management can cost an organization an average of $200 per year per user. By 2006, fingerprint technology accounted for 43.6 percent of the overall biometrics market, according to the International Biometric Group (IBG).
Hand Geometry. To measure hand geometry, two infrared photos of a person's hand—one shot from above, one from the side—record more than 90 measurements such as length, width, thickness, surface area, finger shape, and joint positions. First developed for nuclear power plants, hand scanners were used in prisons, universities, airports, and hospitals in the early years of the twenty-first century. Many manufacturing and construction sites rely on hand scanners to provide a biometric "time card" to verify attendance. Nicks and dirt do not significantly alter readings.
National research labs were among the first users of Recognition Systems Inc.'s ID3D HandKey Biometric System. However, by the early years of the first decade of this century, industry had followed suit...
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