If you've never heard the term biometrics, you might be surprised at how powerful and useful it can be for protecting you and your valued possessions. Types of biometric analysis vary, including facial recognition, fingerprint analysis, hand geometry (hand shape and finger length), iris analysis in the eye, hand and wrist vein analysis, and voice recognition. If this is all sounding a bit "Mission Impossible" to you, it's understandable! What used to be the fanciful imaginings of Hollywood screenwriters is actually coming to pass in real life.
Safeguarding personal information
The implications of biometric technology are extremely promising when it comes to ensuring security of sensitive information. For example, many corporations issue laptops to their employees that feature fingerprint verification for a user log-on. This safeguards company information should the laptop fall into the wrong hands. If every company used biometric safeguards on their company computers, a single laptop theft wouldn't put the private information of thousands of company clients at risk!
Safeguarding personal possessions
Biometrics isn't just useful in the corporate and government worlds; the technology is useful in the personal sphere as well. Biometric safes are already available to consumers, allowing them to store their valuables safely, protected by a fingerprint verification system. Many safes utilize 4-digit codes for security - a safe method, surely, but easy to forget if you don't open it often, or easy to guess if you don't choose your code wisely. It's easy to see why fingerprint verification is a preferable means of security.
Safeguarding identity
On a larger scale, biometrics is used for identity documents, such as passports. The European Union and the US both integrated image-based biometrics into their passport documents, possibly, in the future, allowing systems to check identities without depending on a customs officer.
Governments throughout the world may run into some difficulty implementing a full slate of biometric safeguards, since there are privacy concerns to consider. However, it's full speed ahead for private organizations that wish to use this technology to its full potential.
Banks, for example, hope to use biometric machines to protect customer account access. Imagine stepping up to an ATM machine, and before you're able to withdraw cash, you must submit to an iris scan. This is a future that banks see, which can hopefully limit the potential for criminals gaining access to accounts. The future of biometric technology
Biometric technology, in many ways, is still in its infancy, and perhaps we don't fully appreciate the potential for it to protect identity and the integrity of our personal information. Civil libertarian organizations continue to monitor governments throughout the world to ensure that they are implementing biometrics in a manner that protects personal privacy. Hopefully, innovation will continue apace, and we can enjoy even greater security and privacy in the future.
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