Not long ago biometrics belonged firmly in the realm of science fiction, but technical advances and increased security concerns are pushing the technology into the mainstream.
The oldest and best-known use of biometrics for identification is fingerprinting – a practice used by police for more than a hundred years. Electronic scanning now means that that an individual’s fingerprint can be identified in a matter of seconds, out of a database of millions. Technological advances mean that other biometric information – such as iris or face scans – can now be captured quickly and unobtrusively. This is vital, especially in a busy and stressful environment such as an airport.
When it comes to biometrics and the general public, it is not enough to offer a service that provides an intangible benefit, even one as important as increased security, if it also makes life difficult for customers. For biometric security to be successful its failure rate must be close to zero and it must offer more than the technologies which are currently being used.
This is one reason why biometric technology is only coming to the fore now, even though the potential for use has been around for much longer. Offering a passport for scanning at an airport or using a pin codes for credit cards empowers the consumer while using an almost fool-proof technology.
Recent trials at Heathrow’s Terminal 3, which involved Accenture as part of the miSense consortium, demonstrated that biometric technology is now sophisticated enough to be integrated into everyday activities. These trials gave travellers the option of putting biometric details – in this case facial and iris images, fingerprints and passport information – on to a biometric smartcard that would allow them to use fast track immigration desks, thus bypassing the often lengthy queues. Interestingly, 70 per cent of people in the trial commented on the benefit of faster travel times, while only 18 per cent noted the importance of the better.
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The travel and banking industries will be the earliest adopters of biometric technology, but it could easily be applied and used in other sectors of business and home life. The use of reliable, automated identification technology can provide increased self-service at border controls and crossings, voice recognition could be used by call centres to increase security for sensitive transactions and electronic ID cards could be used in the provision of goods, services, benefits or bank transactions – all of which would help to combat the issue of identity theft. By adding a biometric element to objects like passports and identity cards, fraudulent use becomes extremely difficult.
There are still a number of issues surrounding the future of biometric technology, including fears about invasion of privacy and a Big Brother state. While these questions will need to be discussed and each business, whether a bank, airline or call centre, will need to decide what level of security is necessary and what is too invasive, the technology itself has enormous potential to help both companies and individuals.
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Alastair MacWillson is the global managing director of Accenture Security Practice