Biometric Identification
Biometric ID technologies use some human characteristic to perform positive IDs. Among these are: facial recognition, iris recognition, retinal scanning, palm geometry, and, of course, fingerprints. Since fingerprints are often associated with law enforcement and criminals, the general public has been wary of adopting the technology. There are still many people that harbor the notion that “Big Brother, ie., the government” is somehow trying to monitor our actions, and that mindset has always hampered adoption.
All that said, the real twist of fate is that criminals, playing on that fear, have found a way to use it against people. The number one growing crime is identity theft. It is costing business billions of dollars a year, as well as ruining the lives of millions of unsuspecting consumers. The Internet has made it easy to access personal information about the public. With a few minutes surfing the Web, thieves can access the information they need to charge items on credit cards, withdraw peoples’ savings, take second mortgages on peoples’ houses, and perform a host of other illegal activities. They can even commit crimes using someone else’s name and identity. But, if everybody used biometric ID for all business transactions, the actions of these thieves would be severely thwarted.
Homeland Security is anther huge driving force that is driving adoption of biometric ID. To secure our airports, sea ports, and land borders, government agencies are turning to biometric ID as the only true proof of an individual’s ID. And although someday, criminals will likely find at least some ways of getting around the system, biometric ID still remains the best avenue for absolute human recognition.
Visit one of our Sponsoring Companies(click on a company name to visit their web site)
Psion Teklogix
Resources
Education: InsightU and The Center For Auto ID at Ohio University
Through a relationship with InsightU and The Center For Automatic Identification at Ohio University, SCAN/DCR is pleased to provide information that will help you define, design and use AIDC technology. Here you will finde-books, self-directedon line education and information about livetelephone conferences. |
