Biometric systems usually work by biometric data being recorded for authorised persons, for instance the staff of a bank. When someone requires access (for instance physical entry to the bank) a comparison is made between the stored biometric data and that of the presenting person - access is only allowed if they match. Security is very important in many areas of life, for instance in controlling staff access to government buildings. Biometrics are often used to increase security in this situation. Biometric methods include fingerprint recognition, retina/iris scan, face recognition, voice recognition, etc).
Key Points include:-
Biometric data is unique to a person
Biometric data is very difficult to copy, steal or imitate (unlike PINs, signatures, etc)
It is not possible to “forget” as it would be with access cards, PINs, etc
However, some people might see this use of biometrics as an infringement of their privacy or modesty and might be concerned about physical damage (e.g. eye damage from flash repeated photography. People might also be concerned about the uses the data might be put to.
Key concerns include:-
Some people might see this use of biometrics as an infringement of privacy / modesty, etc, (personal liberty)
People might also be concerned about the uses the data might be put to
People might be concerned about physical damage (e.g. eye damage from repeated flash photography)
Will not work if the original data capture was flawed (e.g. if criminals manage to have their data recorded and fraudulently become authorised)
Iris scanning is the process of capturing an image of the person's eye(s). The security staff in the government building could ensure that every staff member's iris scan is recorded in this way on a database. On attempted entry, the person's iris image will be captured, digitised, and compared with the database. Entry would be allowed if this was successful.