Biometrics

Biometrics allows a person to be identified and authenticated based on recognizable and verifiable data, unique and specific. 

Biometrics is the most suitable means of identifying and authenticating individuals in a reliable and fast way through unique biological characteristics.

Biometrics are biological measurements — or physical characteristics — that can be used to identify individuals. For example, fingerprint mapping, facial recognition, and retina scans are all forms of biometrics.

Types of biometrics

The two main types of biometric identifiers are either physiological characteristics or behavioral characteristics.

Physiological identifiers relate to the composition of the user being authenticated and include the following:

• facial recognition
• fingerprints
• finger geometry (the size and position of fingers)
• iris recognition
• retina scanning
• voice recognition
• DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) matching

 

Behavioral identifiers include the unique ways in which individuals act, including recognition of typing patterns, mouse and finger movements, website and social media engagement patterns, walking gait and other gestures.

Advantages and disadvantages of biometrics

Biometrics are beneficial for the following reasons:

• hard to fake or steal, unlike passwords;
• easy and convenient to use;
• generally, the same over the course of a user's life;
• nontransferable; and
• Efficient because templates take up less storage.

Disadvantages, however, include the following:

• It is costly to get a biometric system up and running.
• If the system fails to capture all of the biometric data, it can lead to failure in identifying a user.
• Databases holding biometric data can still be hacked.
• Errors such as false rejects and false accepts can still happen.
• If a user gets injured, then a biometric authentication system may not work -- for example, if a user burns their hand, then a fingerprint scanner may not be able to identify them.