Biometric Security Part 1/3

Security biometric is the science of using physical characteristics (fingerprints, eyes, hands) to identify a person and some of the products used in this system include fingerprint readers and retinal scanners. When you are considering security biometric , you want to have physical characteristics that are constant and do not change over time and are also difficult to fake or change on purpose.

There are a variety of ethical concerns that have been raised over the use of security biometric and some of which are:

• Some biometric methods, such as retina scans, are intrusive
• Gathering of some biometric information, like fingerprints, is usually associated with criminal behaviour
• You may feel a loss of privacy or personal dignity especially when the information is gathered by large institutions such as the military or police 
• You may feel embarrassed if you are rejected by a public sensor
• Automated facial recognition that is used in public places could be used to track your movements without your knowledge or consent 

There are also many questions that have been raised concerning security biometric and two of the top ones are:

• How will your data be stored and safeguarded?
• Who will have access to your information?

And then there is that constant question as to which method of security biometric works best. No one method can be said to do the best job of data gathering and each one has some very good points to recommend them with some being less invasive, some being very hard to fake and some can be accomplished without your knowledge of it. So following are some of the biometric identification methods that you can use and it really comes down to what works best for your needs.

Face Recognition biometrics security – This is one of the most flexible methods as it can be done without the person being aware that they are being scanned. This system analyzes specific features that everyone’s face has like the distance between the eyes, width of the nose, position of cheekbones, jaw line and chin to only name a few.

Fingerprint Identification – Your fingerprints remain the same throughout your life and no two fingerprints are alike. This may not work in industrial applications as this requires clean hands and some people may have injury to their prints that prevent proper identification.
Hand Geometry biometrics security – This will work in harsh environments, does not require clean conditions and uses a small dataset. It is not considered as intrusive and is often used in industrial environments.

Retina Scan – There is just no known way to replicate a retina and, as far as is known, the pattern of the blood vessels at the back of the eye is totally unique and never changes. The downside is that it takes about 15 seconds of careful concentration to do a good scan but this still remains a standard one in military and government installations.

Iris Scan – This is also very difficult to duplicate and stays the same for your lifetime although it may be difficult for children or the infirm.
Signature biometrics security – This type of security is easy to gather and is not physically intrusive.

Voice Analysis – This method of security biometric can be accomplished without the person’s knowledge although it is easier to fake by using a tape recording but it cannot be done by trying to imitate another person’s voice.

sources : http://findbiometrics.com/applications/biometrics-security/