News and insight into biometric identification and authentication

Australians open to biometrics for personal security

Friday, December 19, 2008

According to the November Unisys Security Index performed by Newspoll, Australians are welcoming the idea of adopting biometrics in their country for the purpose of protecting sensitive data such as credit and debit card numbers, according to a CRN Australia article.

Despite the conclusion of 70% of respondents being willing to share their biometric data with institutions such as government and banking being rousing good news for the biometrics market in Australia, the poll results were not entirely surprising as a similar poll taken two years prior yielded results saying that Australians were eager to have extra measures in place protecting their personal sensitive data.


One of the larger concerns among the remaining 30% who do not wish to share their biometric information is privacy and security of their information as, unlike a PIN number or password, it cannot be changed. To combat this potential issue, however, IBM has created a safer process for which a system can store and authenticate without worry of stolen information or images being able to be used in to defraud the owner.

The process, called cancelable biometrics, involves randomly filtering or distorting all sample images so that if the system is compromised a genuine image of a user’s biometric sample is not gained. Further, if the system is compromised, the system administrator need only have original images distorted again.

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Biometric Signature ID (BSI) announced positive results from a study of their software-only approach to biometric authentication for students using PCs. The new solution utilizes gesture biometrics via a user’s mouse and is envisioned to provide distance-learning students a more effective and secure means of accessing personal student files, discussion groups and other private areas of school networks.

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Research called the Unisys Security Index performed by technology developer Unisys has yielded results claiming Australia’s citizens are in overwhelming support of adopting biometrics to better secure their personal or sensitive data, according to an IT Wire article.

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The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has found that Australia is a prime market for mobile payment, despite low awareness of the technology, according to digital-media.net.au.

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Ceelox has announced that it has finished development of a prototype application that would use Ceelox’s fingerprint biometrics to enable biometric authentication in online environments such as corporate intranets, cloud computing networks and commercial applications like online banking and other personal account-based access.

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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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