Biometric technology is any technology that incorporates biometrics. Biometrics is the use of physical or behavioral characteristics for the purpose of identification of individuals. The most common use for biometric technology is biometric access control, but there are many other uses.
There are many kinds of biometric traits that biometric technology can scan for including fingerprints, retina, voice, facial recognition, and even gait. Depending on the application, biometric technology may utilize data from one or more biometric traits.
The most common piece of biometric technology is the fingerprint scanner. Biometric systems from high security facilities to an individual home computer utilize fingerprint biometric technology. Walt Disney World heavily utilizes fingerprint biometric technology for access control and to prevent ticket fraud.
The most common piece of biometric technology is the fingerprint scanner. Biometric systems from high security facilities to an individual home computer utilize fingerprint biometric technology. Walt Disney World heavily utilizes fingerprint biometric technology for access control and to prevent ticket fraud.
Other kinds of biometric technology recognize faces. Facial recognition utilizes computers to collect face data and powerful software utilizes pattern recognition to find a match. Las Vegas casinos utilize this kind of technology to identify known cheats and other people who are banned from the casino. Police and military are also utilizing facial recognition biometric technology to identify known criminals, terrorists, and suspects.
Any utilized biometric technology must be reliable and secure. This means access control systems must not provide false positives (allowing in people who should be allowed in) or false negatives (not allowing in those who should be allowed). Facial recognition software utilized in public spaces must be highly accurate. A casino or amusement park would not want to harass an innocent visitor and the police or military would not want to take an innocent person into custody.
There are many who feel that the use of biometric technology intrudes on personal privacy, but no matter what you think of biometric technology, it is here to stay. You can expect to see it utilized more and more in the workplace, in transactions with the government, banks, and many other areas of daily life.
