- Biometric Control

Significant questions about biometrics still remain.

For example, a biometrics-based solution should be scalable and reliable enough to withstand the erratic nature of heavy daily usage by people whose biometric variables – voice, fingerprint, iris and facial characteristics – may vary from day to day.

All such solutions must also withstand efforts of criminals to fool them.

Biometrics – or biometric authentication – refers to technology that measures and analyses human physical characteristics for security purposes. Applications are varied and include the security of communications networks and IT systems as well as physical access to facilities. The practical use of biometrics is growing, considering the ongoing advances in terms of range of biometric recognition algorithms, scanning technology, CPU power and network capacity, as well as increased database connectivity.

The post-9/11 "War on Terrorism" and resulting comprehensive security regulations has spurred the demand for biometric security technology. In addition, its use has grown steadily in more prosaic and traditional markets, such as time and attendance, facilities access control and venue management.

An infusion of new blood, along with larger amounts of capital and greater financial sophistication, is also increasingly evident in the biometrics market place. Ultimately, the game is to provide complete solutions & enabling trusted transactions to take place.

At this point, these technologies are not anywhere near their potential market penetration, but that is changing. Properly implemented and applied, biometrics may prove to be the critical tool needed to thwart the fast-growing threats of ID theft and online fraud. However, there are well-founded personal privacy concerns regarding the potential misuse of biometrics. Biometrics is seen as becoming the lock and key to your personal data. You own and manage the key that unlocks access to your personal data, but the two must be separated.

Increasing interest in biometric systems from more savvy and financially sophisticated technology companies outside the traditional biometrics field has been seen, and new methodologies from outside the field are also being adapted and applied.

By 2020, biometric systems will likely be reasonably ubiquitous, but it will also take a real commitment from new and long-time industry participants to build the solutions and the value chain needed for that to happen.