IBIA challenges NRC's state of biometrics report

The International Biometrics & Identification Association (IBIA) says that the NRC report -- especially the press release which accompanied it and which was titled "Automated Biometric Recognition Technologies Inherently Fallible" -- created the inaccurate impression that biometric technologies were not yet ready for "prime time"; IBIA believes that for many useful applications, biometric technology is appropriate, effective, accurate, and reliable and is being widely deployed today.

On 24 September, the National Research Council (NRC) released a report entitled “Biometric Recognition: Challenges and Opportunities” (see “Report: Biometric ID technologies ‘inherently fallible’,” 28 September 2010 HSNW). In the view of the International Biometrics & Identification Association (IBIA), the NRC release statement, report summary, and subsequent negative press coverage create the inaccurate impression that biometrics is fundamentally flawed and not ready for general use.

IBIA says that, to the contrary, experience over the past decade has shown that biometric technology significantly enhances the effectiveness of many identity-based systems and constitutes an important tool in protecting our borders, reducing entitlement fraud, enforcing our laws, securing networks and facilities, and protecting personal information from unauthorized access.

IBIA says that the NRC’s press release headline “Automated Biometric Recognition Technologies Inherently Fallible,” has been seized on by the media and has generated the perception that biometrics are simply not ready for “prime time.” The gist of the argument is the inherently “probabilistic” nature of biometric matches, which the report’s press release and summary highlight as a key weakness of biometric systems.

The NRC report is correct to say that the outcome of an automated match between two biometric records is based on similarity scores that represent “probabilistic” results. “However, similar uncertainties exist in other automated identification mechanisms like PINs, passwords, or tokens that can be lost, stolen, guessed, hacked or loaned to another person,” IBIA argues. “Probabilistic results are nothing new in our world because there is no such thing as 100% certainty.” For example, prescription medications carry a certain probability of health risks, but the overall benefit to society far outweighs these risks.

IBIA believes that for many useful applications, biometric technology is appropriate, effective, accurate, and reliable and is being widely deployed today.

Here are three examples:

Tens of millions of notebook computers shipped in the United States now include biometric sensors as an embedded feature to protect the owner’s sensitive files and personal information from unauthorized access. Similarly, biometrically-enabled smart phones and other mobile devices that provide biometric data protection are now being introduced in the United States after achieving widespread acceptance in international markets like Asia.

According to a recent news release from DHS, the Secure Communities initiative, which uses biometric information and services to identify and remove criminal aliens in state prisons and local jails, has resulted in the arrest of more than 59,000 convicted criminal aliens this year alone, including more than 21,000

source:
http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/ibia-challenges-nrcs-state-biometrics-report

Read more : Biometrics Sector

http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/sector-report-october-12-2010-authentication-biometrics

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