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Biometrics gets face time |
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| Pilot projects testing the power of the human factor. |
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Written by Vawn Himmelsbach
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Monday, 21 April 2008 |
Biometric technologies often provoke images of Star Trek or Big Brother. But, with more accurate, less expensive choices available, biometrics — a technique of analyzing an individual’s unique characteristics such as fingerprints or eye structure — is becoming a useful tool for verification and access control. While not a panacea, biometrics is finding a place within government and industry, from border control to secure banking.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has run a six-month field
trial in conjunction with the Canada Border Services Agency to test
fingerprint and facial recognition technologies. The trial included
some 17,000 CIC clients, with enrolments taking place in Hong Kong and
Seattle and ports of entry at the Vancouver International Airport and
Douglas/Pacific Highway. In Hong Kong and Seattle, clients are asked to
provide10 fingerprints and a photograph, which are sent to a standalone
database in Ottawa. When the client arrives at a port of entry, they
are asked to provide two fingerprints for verification purposes;
matching and analysis is done in Ottawa. CIC is also running a field
trial at the Etobicoke Refugee Claimant Centre.
Governments and industries around the world have poured a large amount
of money into research and development projects to help advance the
state of biometrics, says Ed Schaffner, director of positive
identification and access control solutions with Unisys Global Public
Sector in Illinois, the integrator working with CIC.
Today’s biometric technologies are more accurate than they were in the
past, he says, and the size and cost of these technologies have dropped
significantly. Japan’s NEC Corp. has developed a high-resolution,
medium priced biometric sensor that is more sensitive and durable than
standard sensors. And a few companies are coming out with universal
fingerprint scanners that read through dirt, water, oil or thin
fingerprints, since they work by reading past the layer of the skin to
the user’s sub-dermal layer.
Prior to 2001, most biometric technologies were used for forensic
purposes. Now most countries are considering the use of biometrics for
positive identification of their citizens, said Schaffner. In Malaysia,
Unisys rolled out 21 million multi-purpose cards to citizens, which
include a fingerprint template and nine other applications, such as
driver’s licence and health cards. In South Africa, the integrator has
done live scan prints of 22 million of the country’s 43 million
citizens to form a national identification database.
“My approach is to try to get to the customer before he comes up with
an RFP, to help him understand the challenges and opportunities,” says
Schaffner. “Then, if we can, we’ll make suggestions.”
The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) is an early
adopter of biometrics through its Restricted Area Identification Card
(RAIC).
“Given that this program is basically the first of its kind in the
world and has a very unique business requirement, we had to basically
develop a solution from scratch,” says Peter Burden, RAIC program
manager with CATSA. “We weren’t able to buy this solution off the shelf
— it’s been highly customized.”
The overarching requirement was to enhance security at Canadian
airports by enabling all airport workers to verify their identity
before gaining access to restricted areas. To do this, CATSA is using
both fingerprint and iris biometrics, and all airport workers are
issued a smart card that includes fingerprint and iris templates.
“We were interested in iris technology — initial testing showed this
was going to be a future biometric,” says Burden. “But at the same time
there was some hesitation from the general public on iris, so we wanted
to provide fingerprint as well because people are more comfortable with
it.” About 100,000 airport workers in 29 airports are using the RAIC
card.
While the program has been operating for the past two years, CATSA
recently started using portable fingerprint readers. The next phase,
currently in the planning stages, is to move the program outside of the
terminal buildings to secure the outdoor perimeter.
Every biometric method has limitations, and each has a certain
percentage of the population it cannot enrol. When you provide two or
more methods of biometric identification, you’re covering a higher
percentage of the population — and providing a backup for access
control.
There are two industries that have sprung up around fingerprinting:
AFIS, or automated fingerprint identification systems, which are
principally used for law enforcement, and non-AFIS.
Certain technologies have been adopted more than others, says Robert
Allen, research analyst of financial services with Frost &
Sullivan. Iris and AFIS technologies are popular with governments for
border crossings, while banks like voice verification.
In the future, multi-modal biometrics that combine two or more
biometrics into one product will become more prevalent, says Sapna
Capoor, senior biometrics industry analyst for global markets, AutoID
and security with Frost & Sullivan in London, U.K. “The multi-modal
trend has begun and these products will work in conjunction but have
not got to the phase where they’re integrated as one single product,”
she says. “That’s probably going to happen within the short to medium
term.”
But what will drive acceptance is not so much security as convenience —
for example, the emergence of fingerprint enabled laptops and
cellphones.
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