A Biometrics Technology: Various Opinions and Perspectives - Essay Example

? Biometrics Technology: Various Opinions and Perspectives Public opinion on biometrics technology The biometrics has been derived from Greek with ‘bio’ meaning life and ‘metrics’ meaning measurement, describing what the technology is about. It involves identification and verification of humans based on intrinsic physical and behavioral character traits. These traits have been derived from the fingerprint, iris, face, palm vein, voice and hand. Whereas iris biometrics has been the latest in the market, fingerprint biometrics has been widely used for a long time as the other biometrics technologies minimally penetrate the market. Biometrics technology has been widely employed in governments and corporations worldwide for security, particularly since the terrorist attacks of 9 September, 2001. Travel documents have security features which use biometrics to identify and verify. Airports and government agencies alike have used these technologies to screen passengers so as to ensure security of all passengers and verify their passes. It has also been used in forensics by the police to verify signatures used when signing credit receipts. This technology has been extended to elections, where voters would be barred from voting more than once, a similar application as for those being verified to access welfare benefits (Cole, 2005). Biometrics technology systems have been largely accredited for assuring citizens of their security. With screening at airports and borders of various countries, only persons that do not pose a security threat would be travelling and get to a particular destination as required. Corporations have also appreciated the importance of this technology in keeping data safe and allowing authorized access only. The citizens who have been susceptible to fraud would better appreciate the importance of fingerprint biometrics technology. On the other hand, the public has had its reservations on this technology with concerns being raised on the level of accuracy of fingerprint biometrics. In his journal on errors with fingerprint biometrics, Cole (2005) discusses the experience of Brandon Mayfield who was wrongfully vindicated in the Madrid bombing of March 2004 because of wrongful latent fingerprint results. The FBI later retracted the case and admitted that the results were erroneous despite having been confirmed by about five senior latent fingerprint officers. More so, Opinion Research Foundation (2002) found out in his research that adults were skeptical that information stored in biometrics systems would have been used in ways to threaten their privacy. Since the technology involves use of radiations, health practitioners have had reservations on the eventual implications on the health of the public. For instance, iris biometrics uses near infrared radiation which would be illuminated to the iris so as to obtain the right data. The fear has been that retinal scanning could damage tissues in the eye. This argument has persisted despite the assurance from technologists and radiologists that the radiation is too weak to cause considerable damage to body tissues. Contact sensors have also been widely viewed as being contaminated. Since these sensors would be used by various persons, the risk of contamination by various microbes could be probable. But most organizations regularly irradiate UV light on these sensors so as to sterilize them. There are technologists who have however argued the lack of sense in this argument as the same persons who raise these fears use door knobs and rails on a daily basis which present a similar risk. Workers also feel that these systems have inhibited their movement at work places as their employers monitor their movements in corporations where they have to log in and out of work areas using biometric systems. Albeit the public has its reservations on the use of biometrics technology, it has still been widely utilized with Opinion Research Foundation (2002) finding that 82% of adults in America have at least one ID using biometrics in 2002. Initial planning and assessment of biometrics technology implementation It was only until recent years that automated biometrics systems became available in the market. But the technology on biometrics has been in existence for over a thousand years (Cole, 2005). One of the most basic and oldest characteristics used to identify humans has been the face. This has been used since the start of civilization for identification. Gait and speaker recognition has also been used for quite some time. These traits could have been used unconsciously to identify persons. European Commission (2005) notes that in 500 B.C., evidence has been put forth that fingerprints were used as marks of a person in clay tablets. In the mid 1800s, there was need to formally identify people due to large populations of people. The courts also set to punish repeat offenders more harshly that the first time offenders hence the need for a system that would record the traits of offenders such as the length of their arms, their height or any other relevant parameters. From Europe, South America and Asia, the use of fingerprint biometrics emerged in the late 1800s. Real biometric systems emerged in the twentieth century together with computers leading to what is experienced today. The early developments had members try to come up with standards as per their mandates, for instance, to ensure achievement of overall economic benefit from standardization and ensure observance of specific legislative mandates. In 1969, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI had to come up with an automated system for fingerprint identification due to the involving work of having to identify persons using their fingerprints manually. The National Institute of Science and Technology, NIST was contracted to study the path towards the attainment of this. The institute found out that there were two major challenges in implementation of this, namely; there would be no cards for fingerprint scanning and identifying minutiae; and there was need for comparing and matching minutiae lists. These challenges were solved leading to the availability of modern day automated fingerprint scanners and consequently other biometrics technologies. For iris technology, the system developers had to assess the proper distance for capture of proper image which Opinion Research Foundation (2002) approximates to be about 1 square inch about the scanner. Those systems used in kiosks and airports require a focal distance of about 3 feet from the scanner. Before settling on a biometrics technology, the European Union argues that the developers had to assess the requirements to make it effective (2005). The findings have shown the need for the technology to be universal, distinctive, collectible and permanent (2005). The initial assessment also indicated that with these systems, errors would be inevitable. However, the accuracy rates, measured using the false match rate, FMT and false non-match rate, FNMR, have to be within acceptable standards (Cole, 2005). The set standards for FNMR were 0.1% as at 2006. Nonetheless, there have been complaints from the market on high rates of inaccuracies. Hence, these error rates could probably need revision to below the current applicable limits so as to satisfy the market. But generally, the planning was systematic and advancements were demand driven. References Cole, S. A. (2005). More Than Zero: Accounting for Error in Latent Fingerprint Identification. The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 95 (3), 985 – 1078. European Commission (2005). Biometrics at the Frontiers: Assessing the Impact on Society. Institute for Prospective Technological Studies. Opinion Research Foundation (2002). Public Attitudes Toward the Uses of Biometrics Identification Technology by Government and Private sector. Retrieved 26 February 2012 from http://www.search.org Read More