In today’s article, we will discuss Biometrics Technology and its advantages & disadvantages. Biometrics is the science of measuring or identifying people based on their unique physical characteristics. These measurements could include fingerprints, eye color, facial features, or DNA. In law enforcement, biometric identification systems have been implemented to assist officers in finding criminals among massive crowds and to help identify missing persons.
Table of Contents
What is Biometrics Technology?
The use of biometric technology to protect privacy is becoming increasingly popular. Many websites require users to submit their fingerprints or faces to verify their identity before accessing online accounts. Several companies are producing portable devices, such as smartphones, wristbands, and eyeglasses, that scan individuals’ faces or fingerprints to provide secure access.
Biometrics technology continues to improve at a rapid rate. Advances in computer processing speed and software algorithms are helping to develop technologies that work faster and offer higher accuracy than existing methods. One example of this is the emergence of iris recognition, which relies on unique patterns of blood vessels in the human eye. Iris-recognition technology is already being used worldwide, including by many U.S. intelligence agencies.
Why is Biometrics used?
Currently, most biometric authentication systems are designed for two different scenarios:
1) verifying identities
2) authenticating identities.
Identity verification is used to confirm that someone claiming to be a particular person is. For example, if I stole my grandmother’s credit card, she would not want me to use her card to make any purchases. To prevent this fraudulent activity, a system is developed that requires us to prove who we are (identity verification). Once verified, our access to the account may then be granted.
Authentication is much simpler than identity verification.
To log in to an account, we only need to prove who we are. Authentication is often used with identity verification to ensure that we are indeed who we claim to be. For example, if you were trying to open an account with a bank, they would first ask you to identify yourself using some sort of biometric technique. Once confirmed, they will grant you access to the account. The authentication system will reject your request if you attempt to log in to the same performance under a different name. This prevents fraudsters from impersonating legitimate customers by providing false information about themselves.
Advantages of Biometrics
1. Safety
Biometric technology uses a person’s unique physical traits to identify them. These physical characteristics include fingerprints, iris scans, face recognition, veins, palm prints, voice patterns, signatures, DNA, and smell. While these identification methods may not be foolproof, they provide a safer way of identifying individuals than using traditional passwords alone.
2. Security
Remembering a long password is easier than placing a code, pin number, or passphrase. And if someone does gain access to your account, biometric security ensures that no one else gets to use it.
3. Privacy
Biometric data collection is far less invasive than other surveillance forms, meaning people don’t have to worry about being watched while using their devices. Biometric authentication doesn’t rely on seeing someone’s face or having them hold up their hand; instead, it requires only their features.
4. Cost
Biometric systems are generally cheaper than traditional methods of security. Even if those are cheap, they aren’t free – they require time and effort to set up. If you’re going to bother setting them up, ensure they’ll keep up with whatever security concerns you might face.
5. Efficiency
Most biometric technology works better than a simple password. Passwords can fall victim to dictionary attacks, where hackers look at lists of commonly used phrases to crack them. Facial recognition software won’t suffer from a similar problem. Facial recognition technology works best when users have already uploaded pictures of themselves onto a computer.
6. Accessibility
Biometric authentication isn’t just valid for smartphones and computers – it’s accessible to anyone who has access to a device that supports biometric authentication. You don’t need a smartphone to get fingerprint-authentication services. A tablet, laptop, or desktop computer running Windows 10 or Mac OS X can authenticate people using fingerprints, facial recognition, or retinal scanning. An iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android phone, Chromebook, or Raspberry Pi can do the same thing.
7. Flexibility
If you lose your smartphone password, you can still use biometric authentication. Just put a piece of paper over your finger and scan it.
Disadvantages Of Biometrics
1. Cost-Per-Unit
Biometric devices cost anywhere between $50-$400 per unit, depending on the number of features they have and how many people they need to track. For example, a simple fingerprint reader costs around $100, whereas a high-quality biometric scanner costs upwards of $2000. While using them may seem expensive initially, these prices tend to decrease over time, with the price dropping dramatically over the past ten years.
2. Privacy Concerns
The use of biometric data raises questions about privacy. Fingerprint readers are notorious for collecting fingerprints of unsuspecting users without their consent. Many companies claim to erase individuals’ information after it is collected. However, this is not always true. Many governments require law enforcement agencies to retain fingerprints indefinitely.
3. Accuracy
Despite the cost and hassle of installing biometric scanners, they don’t always work. Most biometric sensors are designed to pick up a person’s unique physical characteristics, such as face, voice, or handprint. These traits are hardwired into our bodies and can vary daily. Even if someone attempts to change their appearance, such as shaving off facial hair, fingerprints remain static. Biometric scanners are unable to detect changes in appearance.
4. Reliability
If the sensor malfunctions, biometric tools become useless. A faulty fingerprint reader might identify fingerprints of different fingers as belonging to the same person, resulting in false negatives. False positives occur when the tool identifies two unrelated samples as being identical. As it has been proven unreliable, biometric technology should only be used in applications where user safety is paramount, such as border control checkpoints.
Why do we need biometric security?
There are many reasons why biometric security is becoming increasingly popular. Biometrics provides a simple, secure, and effective way of identifying people and objects and verifying information. Biometrics has become ubiquitous and deployed across sectors, including healthcare, transport, finance, retail, defense, education, government, telecoms, and entertainment.
Is biometric technology suitable for all applications?
No, biometric systems should not be considered appropriate for all applications. Biometric technologies are best suited to situations where the risk of fraud/theft is shallow, and there is a high demand for security and privacy. Examples include financial transactions, banking, passports, visas, and immigration. However, biometric technologies may still provide added protection in specific industries where physical access to buildings or premises is required, e.g., military bases, casinos, hospitals, etc.
Conclusion
A Biometric system is any method or device that uses physical features or patterns of human beings to identify them or verify their identity. Biometric may refer to a specific biographical database, biometric security, or biometric identifier. If you like this article, share it with your friends, and for further queries, comment below this article.
