The Journal News

Biometrics keep an eye and a finger on security

August 12, 2002
By Christopher Mele and Julie Moran Alterio

Iris scans. Handprint readers. Computers that can match your facial features to mug shots of wanted criminals.  

What sounds like the work of science fiction is science fact.  So-called biometrics technology, which has been around for about two decades, gained renewed attention after Sept. 11 as government and businesses sought new ways to safeguard buildings, borders and information. However, the interest in such systems has not translated into a greater number of installations, experts said.

Leading the biometrics industry are fingerprint scans followed by face and hand geometry reading systems. Other products match irises, voices and handwritten signatures, said Raj Nanavati, a partner of International Biometric Group, a New York City-based trade organization.

Core biometric companies number about 100 to 200, with 2001 revenues of $524 million. In 2002, revenues are projected to increase to $729 million. For now, companies are probably going to improve on existing technologies rather than pioneer new systems, Nanavati said. "You're not going to see elbow measures come out of the blue," he said.

Costs and usability are potential hurdles to the technology being widely adopted, said Laura Guevin, editor of BiometriTech, an online newsletter that covers the industry. How willing companies are to overhaul their security systems in the face of an economic downturn is uncertain. There is also the yuck factor: Think of how many people will put their sweaty hands on a scanner at a crowded airport terminal.

Even with the heightened awareness of security after Sept. 11, biometrics orders have lagged. "While there was a blip after Sept. 11, things seemed to have petered out at this point," Guevin said.

Krishna Pendyala, senior vice president of strategy and consulting for the biometrics company Sonic Foundry Inc. in Madison, Wis., said biometrics merely authenticates that a person is who they say they are. A system is useless unless it is connected with a database where information can be compared and shared, he said. "Unless that person has been tagged good, bad or ugly and unless that data has been correlated, that person will still go through (security)," he said.

Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego-based consumer advocacy group, said the potential exists for abuses especially if separate biometric databases are ever connected. Still, she said she could see valuable applications for the systems provided they have "very tall walls built around them." Lawmakers are beginning to ponder the implications of such technology.

"I think we are starting to pay attention to this and starting to realize there are some precious things we would lose, such as our privacy rights and civil liberties," she said.

Nanavati of the biometrics trade group said new federal legislation, such as the Patriot Act and Visa Enhancement Act, will eventually fuel increased business. The Visa Act requires that by 2004 anyone crossing U.S. borders go through a biometric identifier. Similarly, aviation security will require biometrics to be used for employee access at all airports, he said.

Before Sept. 11, the driving force in biometrics was consumer convenience, said John McKeon, a biometrics consultant for IBM Global Services. There was widespread interest in fingerprint scanners that could connect to personal computers to authenticate online shopping transactions and face recognition scanners for automated teller machines, McKeon said.

West Coast grocer Thriftway even started a program to allow customers to buy groceries by passing a finger over a scanner after registering their prints and credit card with the store.

"The idea of convenience and e-commerce has really taken a backseat to security," McKeon said. "Physical security has really come back to the forefront as it relates to biometrics."

McKeon helps IBM's customers figure out how to use technologies such as fingerprint, facial and voice recognition.

Lately, he's seen a lot of interest from the government. On the state level, there is growing interest in adding fingerprints to driver's licenses. The technology is here: IBM alone has about 50 biometric-related patents. The biggest hurdle in implementing the systems will be the people who use them.

"What's most challenging in biometrics is dealing with human beings," McKeon said. "If you think of a fingerprint sensor, 100 people will put down their fingers in 100 different ways."

Passwords, by contrast, are easy. A password is either right or wrong. Biometric data is measured in degrees of how well the information matches what's on file. Facial recognition sensors can be affected by lighting and background, for example. But "biometrics offers you a much stronger authentication mechanism," McKeon said.

Proving that nothing is without pitfalls, though, iris scanning cameras used at some border crossings have already upset Japanese travelers. Because the cameras are positioned at chest height, some people had to bend over to have their eyes scanned — a position the Japanese deemed too similar to a bow of respect. "In their culture, it's offensive to bow to a machine," McKeon said.