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What is biometrics?
A Biometric System is a system for the automated recognition of individuals based on their behavioural and biological characteristics.
Fingerprints, face geometry, iris patterns and hand geometry are examples of biological characteristics, while dynamic signature recognition (the way in which a signature is written rather than the resulting graphic) is an example of a behavioural characteristic. In reality, most biometric characteristics comprise elements of both biology and behaviour.
Speaker recognition for example, depends on biological factors such as the shape of the vocal tract as well as behavioural influences such as the region of upbringing. Conversely, biological characteristics such as fingerprints are affected by behaviour when placing a finger onto a sensor.
Biological and behavioural characteristics of an individual are those that can be detected and from which distinguishing repeatable biometric features can be extracted for the purpose of automated recognition of individuals.
Biological and behavioural characteristics are physical properties of body parts, physiological and behavioural processes created by the body and combinations of any of these. Distinguishing does not necessarily imply individualization.
Wherever there is a need to identify or verify a human being there is a potential application for biometrics. This includes entry control to buildings and secure areas including countries, as well as logical access control to resources such as bank accounts and entitlement services.
Traditional methods to secure such applications include magnetic and smart cards, tokens as well as passwords and PINs. However, when it comes to identity assurance, biometric technologies have an unsurpassed advantage: they are intrinsically linked to the person.
As the number and scale of deployments of biometric recognition systems increase, biometrics is moving from an era where vendor-specific products, techniques and solutions were acceptable, into an era where interoperability is important and conformance to standards is required by most procurers of biometric products.
Recently published BS ISO/IEC 19794 standards cover data structures to digitally record finger, face and iris images and fingerprint features, for use in identity management systems. Some of the standards are already used for the recording of biometric data on UK ePassports and they will find further application once UK ID cards are deployed.
BSI’s publications and international standards are essential for those concerned with government contracts and procurement or with the enhancement of IT security through the identification of personnel and/or physical access control.
Standards Development
Standards are important because technical standards support interchangeability and interoperability. Such standards reduce the risk for the procurer, system integrator and the end user, because they simplify integration and enable vendor substitution, technology enhancement and development.
BSI British Standards publications and international standards are essential for any government or commercial biometric project procurement.
ISO and IEC have a joint committee for information technology standards – JTC1. In 2002, ISO/IEC JTC1 established a subcommittee – SC37, to develop biometric standards. This subcommittee is composed of six working groups each addressing a specific area of work:
WG1 – Harmonized Biometric Vocabulary
WG2 – Biometrics Technical Interfaces
WG3 – Biometric Data Interchange Formats
WG4 – Biometric Profiles
WG5 – Biometric Performance Testing and Reporting
WG6 – Cross-Jurisdictional and Societal Aspects of Biometrics
The BSI IST/44 committee mirrors the structure and activities of SC37.
These links are all external:
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