Descarga archivo PDF (20MB) - Biometría

Current technologies have evolved over the past five decades to higher mature levels due
to the developments in the semi-conductor technology coupled with computing power.
However, the foremost impediments of biometrics rotate around the complexity and privacy
issues surrounding information abuse.
Biometric information abuse has caused some civil libertarians to be incensed by the risks posed
by the personal nature of biometric information and how this information can be manipulated
or misused. Conversely, the evolution of the biometrics to the current state in the world is best
understood in the context of the applications of the biometrics. The next section looks at some
different uses of biometrics which also explain the concept of identification and authentication.
1.2 Purpose of Biometrics
Personal identification numbers; often referred to as PIN numbers, were one of the earliest
identifiers to offer automated recognition. PIN is a secret numeric password shared between
a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user. Despite its wide application,
PIN-based authentication methods do not provide recognition of the person performing the
transaction. Biometrics however represent unique identifiers and unlike PINs, it cannot be easily
transferred between individuals. Most of current biometric applications are related to security
and are used extensively in government sector.
The wide applications of biometrics in public domain are being motivated because of its
advanced capabilities of (1) identification, (2) verification, (3) authentication and (4) recognition.
In practice, it is noted that many in the field often do not understand the difference between
the functions of these capabilities. Table 3 provides definition of each.
In the context of the above capabilities, biometrics has come a long way. From the 1858 hand
print cataloguing of the Indian employees for pay day by Sir William Herschel; to the 1903
fingerprinting of criminals in New York State Prison; to the Visit Program of the United States;
to the World’s largest biometric database in India for social benefit delivery, biometric are
coming of age.
In the past decade, the industry has seen remarkable developments in the field of storage
methods and enrolment and verification procedures. Physical fingerprints taken by fingers
dipped in indelible ink have given way to electronic sensors that capture the fingerprint image.
Photographs that provide facial recognition have given way to face analysis system capturing
internal skull geometry and skin texture sensing.
Eye colour/ retina recognition has evolved into iris recognition that cannot be tampered
with. Electronic Sensors have been developed to accurately capture the different biometric
characteristics so that they can be stored as electronically recognizable templates. Table 4
provides a list of evolving biometrics technologies that are gaining varying acceptance levels in
various industry segments.
In the light of rapid speed of technological advancements of biometrics, the industry
has witnessed accelerated standardization efforts to support inter-changeability and
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