News and insight into biometric identification and authentication

Biometrics on the way, but not here yet

Monday, December 15, 2008

Despite biometric technologies such as fingerprint and iris scanners seeing a jump from science fiction to science fact in areas such as law enforcement, national ID programs and commercial access control, implementation is still fairly limited worldwide with fingerprint scanners being the main technology seeing any widespread use, according to a CNN article.


Regardless of the slow adoption of the technologies, research and development labs around the world are still coming out with new modes of biometrics regularly. An example of this can be seen in Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Biometrics Research Center where scientists are developing a way to discern someone’s identity via the shape of their tongue. Other companies that develop biometric technologies are finding ways to incorporate their existing technology into devices that make them easier to use such as Fujitsu fitting their palm-vein scanning technology into computer mice to authenticate users from their mouse.

As one of the major concerns facing the adoption of biometric technology is privacy and security of the data, the Biometrics Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public about biometrics, has begun offering a service where they will assess the vulnerabilities of biometric systems for developers. Among the recommended ways to combat security issues are strong data encryption, having systems require multiple modes of biometrics for authentication such as fingerprint and iris scans or including other technologies to check for liveness such as infrared cameras in sensors or heat-detection technology.

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A webinar hosted by Angel.com, an interactive voice response (IVR) and call center solutions provider, and VoiceVault, a developer of voice recognition biometrics, drives at the need for voice biometrics in call center operations looking for unique alternatives to boost efficiency and lower costs, according to a TMCnet article.

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India’s Social Welfare Department has implemented the Beggars Personal Management System to track beggars using biometrics. This effort is to fight recent large-scale deaths and mismanagement within colonies, according to a Deccan Herald article.

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Ghana’s major electronic clearing and payment system could provide enough space and communication capabilities to enable adding new purposes for removing ghost payrollers, according to a Peace FM Online article.

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Dates: November 1 - 4, 2010

Location: Montréal, Canada

Venue: ICAO Headquarters

URL: http://www2.icao.int/en/MRTD2/Pages/SixthMRTDSymposium.aspx

Description: Information about the event will be posted as soon as available.  

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Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has announced an award of $50,000 to the University of Kent in the UK to support its Biometric Grand Challenge competition, a contest that recognizes innovative work by doctoral degree candidates in the biometric sector.

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The European Biometrics Forum (EBF), a non-profit group that works to initiate, facilitate and organize activities intended to further the development and use of biometrics, has announced the launch of the European Biometric Research Award 2010.

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