Will Biometrics Be Integrated Everywhere?

While it is interesting to think that we can use biometrics for everything, the reality is less promising . Biometrics will continue to be adopted in both the logical and physical access worlds . The biometrics used for logical access will still need to be low in cost, high in user acceptance, and very easy to use. The biometric device will also need to have a small footprint on the desktop. This will limit these logical-access biometric devices to finger, hand, face, eye, and voice types. For physical access, the choice of biometrics will depend on their application. If it is a high-volume application, then an active biometric will need to be used, like face, voice, or gait. If the application has lower throughput requirements, then many of the same types of biometrics used for logical access will also apply.

As for one biometric itself becoming pervasive, that will depend on cost and user acceptance. Currently, the implementation of biometrics into devices like laptops and phones has not progressed at the rate anticipated. This is because of the low margins that are on these items. Just a fraction of an increase in cost can make their production unprofitable. Thus, the price needs to come down. As for user acceptance, I think, like the telephone and the home computer, as a biometric device becomes more pervasive in people's working lives, the more likely they are to accept it in their personal lives. Still, there are technological and logistical hurdles to overcome . Imagine using an active biometric sensor at home; the children return home and use the sensor after playing in the dirt and mud all day. Imagine the family hopping into the car to go somewhere and Dad and Mom cannot get authenticated to start the car. We thought children asking "Are we there yet?" was annoying; what would happen if we could not even start the trip? Besides the technology hurdles, what would be the logistics of keeping our biometric enrollments current in all these different systems? It could become as bothersome as using passwords!

What I feel will get us closer to ubiquity is the use of personal authentication devices. These personal authentication devices would have our biometric traits enrolled and ready for verification. The on-board cryptographic store would contain digital signatures for things such as banking, commerce, physical access, logical access, and other personal uses. The personal authentication devices would communicate securely using Bluetooth wireless technology to other devices requesting authentication, and the types of certificates required for access would be given. In this way, we could have strong authentication and still keep the logistics manageable.