Section 10.2. Where Are Biometrics Used?

10.2. Where Are Biometrics Used?

Each biometrics technique has its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages. Cost, size, and method of use often dictate applicability to any given situation. For example, a telephone-based system could use only voice as a biometrics.

Early biometrics were cumbersome to use and very expensive, and therefore were used only in very high-security applications. However, as the technology has improved, the number of applications has increased. This section introduces some other areas of application, including physical access control, border control, surveillance, people tracking, and online transaction security.

10.2.1. Physical Access Control

Physical access control is the largest and most commercialized application of biometrics systems, in part because a relatively small user base exists for each system, and in part because these devices could be sold and deployed as standalone systems, allowing for incremental deployments. Physical access security ranges from access to secure locations such as prisons or military facilities, to secure work areas such as bank vaults, to general workplaces, and now to countries via border controls. Nowadays, we are also seeing biometrics used in conjunction with clocks for time cards, to confirm "season passes" at attractions, for access to schools or subsidized meals at school cafeterias, and as an alternative to keys for a car, house, hotel room, or locker.^[17] The most commonly used biometrics in this area are hand geometry and fingerprint. Biometrics researchers are also looking at identification alternatives including iris, retina, and hand vein.

^[17] "Biometric Tech Puts ID at Your Fingertips," (Aug. 11, 2004); http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/08/11/biometrics.ap/index.html.

10.2.2. Immigration and Border Control

A specific set of problems arises when dealing with border control between countries. Here, the user base can be extraordinarily large, and systems in different countries must interoperate. As of this writing, iris, fingerprint, and facial biometrics are being incorporated in passports. In some cases, this means that people must adopt a particular pose when providing a passport photograph. For instance, Canadian, British, and U.S. citizens are no longer permitted to smile in their passport photos, to prepare for facial biometrics that capture only "neutral" expressions.^[18]

^[18] M. Lockie, "Commentary," Biometric Technology Today (Sept. 2004), 12.

More and more surveillance is being deployed worldwide that attempts to use biometrics technology to identify people at a distance. Much of this technology is being implemented covertly, raising issues of privacy and civil liberties in many countries. Another application of "distance biometrics" is face recognition to track photographs or videos of specific people. These systems can be used either at special screening stations or with covert imagery shot in banks, casinos, and shopping malls, and at borders. While not completely reliable, this technology reduces human search efforts; for example, recorded images can be compared automatically with faces of known terrorists, and a human screener can be alerted when there is a close match. Perhaps in the future, more identification accuracy could be achieved with iris recognition.

10.2.3. Law and Order

Some countries are investigating issuing ID cards or drivers' licenses with embedded biometrics. Biometrics is currently being used to prevent welfare fraud by checking for multiple identities and to ensure that the real recipient collects the correct benefits. Biometrics are also being deployed in other social services settings. In South Africa, for example, a project in the Western Cape region is registering and tracking street children to ensure that they are not placed in adult prison and are identified correctly.^[19]

^[19] Biometric Technology Today (Sept. 2004), 3.

10.2.4. Transaction Security

Biometrics is being used to secure many different transactions, including those taking place at a single server or over a network, the Internet, or telephones, as well as being used in voting systems and at ATMs .^[20] However, remote biometrics authentication is neither trivial nor foolproof. The assumption that anyone who can provide my fingerprint can also complete any transaction in my name is risky. This requires a trusted biometrics sensor, one that is sufficiently tamper-resistant and provides trustworthy liveness detection. Remote, unsupervised authentication provides greater opportunity for fraud.

^[20] M. Alpert, "Security at Your Fingertips," Scientific American (May 24, 2004).