What is the science of biometrics?
Biometrics is the use of an automated device to repeatedly and accurately identify individuals based on their unique physiological or behavioral characteristics, such as by a live-scan and match of a fingerprint at a checkpoint. The term biometrics has been widely used by the media and others to loosely refer to various ways technologies have been used to “read” or capture human characteristics such as handwriting, voice, facial features or fingerprints, and then apply those readings to authorize some activity, such as passing through a security door. It is a misnomer to call all reader technologies ‘biometrics’ without verifiable data proving they can “repeatedly and accurately” match unique physical characteristics automatically. Identification errors that exceed a .04% false acceptance or false rejection rate would be unacceptable in “mission critical” situations by governmental standards. Biometrics can be the ultimate personal “key” to unlock doors and data whenever we want withou
