Nan Phoo

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Biometrics

Biometrics method of identification is preferred over traditional methods

involving passwords and PIN numbers for its accuracy and case sensitiveness. A

biometric system is essentially a pattern recognition system which makes a personal

identification by determining the authenticity of a specific physiological or behavioral

characteristic possessed by the user. An important issue in designing a practical

system is to determine how an individual is identified. Every medium of

authentication has its own advantages and shortcomings. With the increased use of

computers as vehicles of information technology, it is necessary to restrict

unauthorized access to or fraudulent use of sensitive/personal data. Biometric

techniques being potentially able to augment this restriction are enjoying a renewed

interest.

Biometrics refers to the automated recognition of individuals based on their biological

and behavioral traits such as;a person’s fingerprints, their face mapping, iris/retina

scanning, hand/palm geometry, voice recognition, a person’s handwriting, and their

gait. A biometric modality is nothing more than a category of a biometric system

depending upon the type of human trait it takes as input. Each biometric modality will

fall under one of the three types physiological, behavioral, or a combination of both

physiological and behavioral. The traits that will fall under physiological modality are

things that have to do with the shape and size of a person’s body and would include

such things like; fingerprint recognition, hand/palm geometry recognition, facial

recognition, iris/retina recognition, and DNA recognition (Newman, 2010).   Traits

that would fall under behavioral modality which are related to changes in a person’s

behavior over time and would include things such things like; their gait, the way a

person may type on a keyboard, and their handwriting. Traits that would fall under a

combination of both modalities which both traits where both physical as well as

behavioral changes are used such as in voice recognition where physical traits such as

the size, shape, and health of the mouth and lips, vocal cords, nasal cavity along with

behavioral changes such as age, health, and emotional state is used(Newman, 2010).  

Though there are advantages of using biometrics such as security there are also some

concerns with using biometrics. As with any new technology that identifies human

individuality, security is number one, but also equally important is the accuracy of the

system. Another concern is how easy is the system to fooled. There is also a concern

for biometric information abuse where information can be manipulated or misused.

Who owns this information once it is implemented into the system and what does the

owner have the right to do with that information. There are also religious concerns

related to the use of biometrics such as in the Book of Revelation where it talks about

the “Mark of the Beast” (Works, n.d.).

Future of Biometrics:-

"Public acceptance of biometrics has been slow to grow, and will continue to be an

issue until issues of privacy and security of data have been brought up to a level

acceptable by the majority of people," says Isabelle Moeller, general manager of the

Biometrics Institute.

Even though biometrics may be an issue of privacy and security for many people, it is

one of the main courses our future is based on. Today, fingerprints are used not only

for forensic investigation, but also commonly for passports, ID cards, border
surveillance, access control, and even shopping. This will only grow more as people

are dependent on convenience, luxury, assistance and fast-paced life. Besides

fingerprints, other physiological biometrics include face recognition, iris scan, retina

scan, hand geometry, facial thermogram, body odor, hand or finger veins, footprints

and palm prints. These methods are being used more and more today and in the

future, these methods will only become more advanced and refined

Iris Scanning Iris scanning is becoming more and more popular these days. More

building are installing iris detecting sensors for better security. Iris scanning is the

most accurate, with an average of approximately 250 distinctive characteristics in an

iris; the odds of two people having the same pattern are 1 in 7 billion. And as it is

relatively difficult to copy, it's also considered of one the most secure biometrics. So

based on the accuracy and the growing popularity of this method

Tongue Scanning:- Another biometric identification system currently under

development by Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Biometrics Research Center is

tongue scanning. "The tongue shapes of different people are different, and thus the

tongue can be used to tell different subjects," says Lei Zhang, assistant professor at

the university
Work cited:

Newman, R. (2010). Security and Access Control Using Biometric

Technologies, 1st Edition. [Bookshelf Online]. Retrieved from

vitalsource/#/books/9781305178533/

Works, P. B. Authentication technologies. Retrieved December 20, 2016, from

Biometrics, biometrics.pbworks/w/page/14811351/Authentication

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