Biometrics: History, Origin & How It Affects Our Lives

Just hearing the term biometrics, we draw a picture of the fingerprint in the back of our mind, but, originally biometrics is a term related to our human body itself. The original term “Biometrics” actually refers to measurements and different sorts of calculations that are related to the human body. It is the measurement of human characteristics in a matrix form. Biometric measurements are unique and irreversible depending on their types. This is why in modern day identification biometrics measurements ensure maximum efficiency.

The history of Biometrics originated back in 1981 to identify criminal’s fingerprints to be analyzed and stored. Since then, this practice happens all over the world. However, now biometric authentication has just not become important but welcomed in all aspects of our lives. Biometric measurements also have evolved from the only fingerprint and now different parts of our body such as finger vein, palm vein, iris scan, voice recognition, facial recognition, brain waves, heart signals, DNA identification, and behavior biometrics.

Breaking the barriers of use in only for criminal identification, biometrics has now evolved to personal security level and reached to cloud computing as well. Biometrics help us change our lives reforming manual tasks into automation and providing that extra layer of security. It is not only affecting our lives only as an individual but also as a community, and even as a species in the environment.

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Iris Recognition vs. Retina Scanning – What are the Differences?

In biometrics, iris and retinal scanning are known as “ocular-based” identification technologies, meaning they rely on unique physiological characteristics of the eye to identify an individual. Even though they both share part of the eye for identification purposes, these biometric modalities are quite different in how they work. Let’s take a closer look at both and then explain the similarities and differences in detail: Retinal Scanning: The human retina is a thin tissue composed of neural cells that are located in the posterior portion of the eye. Because of the complex structure of the capillaries that supply the retina with blood, each person’s retina is unique. The network of blood vessels in the retina is so complex that even identical twins do not share a similar pattern. Although retinal patterns may be altered in cases of diabetes, glaucoma or retinal degenerative disorders, the retina typically remains unchanged from birth until death. (Source: Wikipedia) ...

Finger Vein Biometrics Identification for Membership Management Software

An article published today in the University of Vermont’s campus newspaper The Vermont Cynic reported that the campus recreation center has adopted M2SYS finger vein technology for student member identification. Tim Lewis, associate director for campus recreation made the decision to use finger vein biometrics for member identification after brainstorming ideas on how to eliminate students carrying ID cards. Happy to see our finger vein biometric identification system used at the University of Vermont through a partnership we have with Vermont Systems, a recreation and parks software provider based in Essex Junction, VT. Modern-day membership management software is designed to help create efficiencies that antiquated methods simply can’t provide. In an effort to eliminate ID cards, prevent identity fraud, and create a more convenient user experience, many membership management facilities are evaluating vascular biometrics (finger vein) for identification because of the distinct ...

Misinformation about Biometric Technology Continues to Fuel Functionality Misconceptions

Today, we came across the following blog post from Guy Huntington at Infosec Island: “What Happened to My Biometric?” In the post, the author discusses the inherent dangers of opting into a biometric identification system by providing your fingerprint and the possible negative privacy and identity theft consequences if a user does not make sure that their biometric template is deleted from the system if they leave or opt-out. Our take: While we are always pleased to see biometric technology pop up in the news or through blog postings, we often cringe when we see these types of articles that essentially do not accurately depict biometric technology, and leave readers with ill-conceived perceptions about how the technology actually works. Anyone who works in the biometric industry can attest to the fact that there is never an image of a user’s fingerprint stored. The truth of the matter is that biometric enrollment templates stored on a server are not actually an image of t...

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