New York Times

Apply Moisterizer Only After Gaining Access

By Barnaby Feder
February 24, 2003 

Whether they are selling old-fashioned fingerprinting devices, hand-shape or voice-recognition systems, or the latest in facial-recognition scanning, biometrics companies tend to speak in lowered voices and use small print when discussing the limits of their technologies.

The undeniable truth though is that no such system, used to limit access to a restricted area or equipment, is perfect when it comes to identifying everyone.

Some problems are easy to anticipate. Face-recognition systems, for example, are not the way to go where lighting is poor, and fingerprinting is a nonstarter in hospital operating rooms where everyone is wearing gloves.

But as more systems are deployed, businesses and institutions are discovering some less obvious challenges.

Take the case of North Florida Medical Centers, a chain of medical and dental clinics that turned to biometrics to comply with federal regulations covering the handling of medical data and records.

Fingerprinting was North Florida Medical's first choice to replace passwords as the method for gaining computer access to patient records, according to Saflink, a company the medical group consulted for a solution. It turned out though that several employees routinely put so much lotion on their hands that the devices had trouble picking up accurate readings of their fingerprints.

North Florida Medical Centers, in Tallahassee, Fla., ultimately decided to use a more expensive system, one that recognizes employees by the unique pattern of their irises.

"We had run into problems with dry skin and people lathering up their hands with lotion in cold regions, but never this far south," said Glenn L. Argenbright, the chief executive of Saflink, based in Bellevue, Wash.

Iris scanning can also have its problems. If the population is large enough, a small percentage of people might have irregularities in their eyes that cloud the images and others will have trouble because they are uncomfortable looking directly into such devices.

"No matter what you use, there has to be a workaround to handle exceptions," said Trevor Prout, director of marketing for the International Biometric Group, a consulting company in New York.

Perhaps the strangest aspect of the situation, Mr. Argenbright said, is that many clients do not choose the cheapest solution that meets their security needs.

"Good-looking devices outsell ugly ones regardless of reliability," Mr. Argenbright said. "It kills me."