Biometric Systems

Biometrics recognition refers to the use of distinctive physiological and behavioral, called biometrics identifiers or simply biometrics, for automatically recognizing a person. Biometrics recognition can provide better security, higher efficiency, and increased user convenience. It is for these reasons that biometrics systems are being either increasingly deployed or evaluated in a large number of government and civilian application.

As biometric technology matures, there will be an increasing interaction among the market, technology, and the applications. The emerging interaction is expected to be influenced by the added value of the technology, the sensitivities of the population, and the credibility of the service provider.

It is too early to predict where, how, and which biometric technology would evolve and be mated with which applications. But it is certain that biometrics based identification will have a profound influence on the way we conduct our daily business. It is also certain that, as the most mature and well-understood biometric, fingerprints will remain an integral part of the preferred biometric-based identification solutions in the years to come.

Typically, authentication is based off of one or more of the following:

• Something you have (smartcard, token, ...)
• Something you know (password, PIN, ...)
• Something you are (fingerprint, iris, retina, ...)

Four scenarios are depicted  

• Biometrics at the borders
• Biometrics in the health sector
• Biometrics in business
• Biometrics in everyday life

They can be placed on a continuum ranging from public-sector applications to private applications.

Features of biometric identification are based on seven pillars

• Universality
• Distinctiveness
• Permanence
• Collectability
• Performance
• Acceptability
• Resistance to Circumvention