Biometrics and Biometric Technologies
RISK AND ENVIRONMENT DEFINES TECHNOLOGY CHOICE
All access control systems are designed to check a user’s credential against a database. This might be a smart card or a number that they remember - but in a biometric system a credential is something that you are rather than something that you have or know.
Biometrics all use a matching process, comparing the users credential against a pre-stored template stored in database.
The size of the database affects the speed of matching so biometrics are often used with a card or number which tells the system which template to load and allows a fast 1:1 match.
In biometrics security and convenience depend on the false acceptance rate and false rejection rates respectively. Typically the thresholds for a system can be adjusted for higher security, which would result in more false rejections.
OPERATING ENVIRONMENT
What is the operating environment?
Technologies such as fingerprint are inexpensive but perform badly in dirty environments like construction.
Iris is amongst the most secure but is expensive and can be affected by sunlight.
Hand geometry is very widely used in construction but is vulnerable to spoofing so not suitable for high security applications.
Facial recognition used to require very controlled lighting conditions but the increasing use of filtering and infra red