Biometric Recognition: Challenges and Opportunities

摘要

Biometrics is the automated recognition of individuals based on their behavioral and biological characteristics. It is a tool for establishing confidence that one is dealing with individuals who are already known (or not known)and consequently that they belong to a group with certain rights (or to a group to be denied certain privileges). It relies on the presumption that individuals are physically and behaviorally distinctive in a number of ways. Figure S.1 illustrates the basic operations of a recognition process. Biometric systems are used increasingly to recognize individuals and regulate access to physical spaces, information, services, and to other rights or benefits, including the ability to cross international borders. The motivations for using biometrics are diverse and often overlap. They include improving the convenience and efficiency of routine access transactions, reducing fraud, and enhancing public safety and national security. Questions persist, however, about the effectiveness of biometric systems as security or surveillance mechanisms, their usability and manageability, appropriateness in widely varying contexts, social impacts, effects on privacy, and legal and policy implications.