Biometrics “Foundation Documents”
Table of Contents
Biometrics Frequently Asked Questions Page 1Biometrics Glossary Page 24Biometrics History Page 56Biometrics Overview Page 79Dynamic Signature Page 87Face Recognition Page 92Fingerprint Recognition Page 100Hand Geometry Page 110Iris Recognition Page 114Palm Print Recognition Page 121Speaker Recognition Page 128Vascular Pattern Recognition Page 134Biometrics Standards Page 138Biometrics Testing and Statistics Page 149About the Subcommittee Page 164
Biometrics Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction
This set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) was developed bytheNational Science & Technology Council’s (NSTC)Subcommittee
on Biometricswith the full understanding that national(INCITS/M1) and international (ISO/IEC JTC1 SC37) standardsbodies are working to develop standard references. Thesubcommittee will review this set of FAQs for consistency asstandards are passed. The subcommittee recognizes the impactof ongoing challenge problems, technical evaluations, andtechnology advancements. The FAQs will be updated accordinglyto reflect these changes. The statements herein are intended tofurther the understanding of a general audience and are notintended to replace or compete with sources that may be moretechnically descriptive/prescriptive.
Top 10 Biometric FAQs
Q1: What is “biometrics”?
Biometrics is a general term used alternatively to describea characteristic or a process.As a characteristic: a biometric is a measurablebiological (anatomical and physiological) and behavioralcharacteristic that can be used for automatedrecognition.As a process: a biometric is an automated method of recognizing an individual based on measurablebiological (anatomical and physiological) and behavioralcharacteristics.
Q2: What are the common biometrics?
Biometrics commonly implemented or studied includefingerprint, face, iris, voice, signature, and hand geometry.Many other modalities are in various stages of developmentand assessment.
Q3: Which biometric technology is the best?
There is not one biometric modality that is best for allimplementations. Many factors must be taken into accountwhen implementing a biometric device including location,security risks, task (identification or verification), expected
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Biometrics Frequently Asked Questions
number of users, user circumstances, existing data, etc. Itis also important to note that biometric modalities are invarying stages of maturity. For example, fingerprintrecognition has been used for over a century while irisrecognition is a little more than a decade old. It should benoted that maturity is not related to which technology isthe best, but can be an indicator of which technologieshave more implementation experience.
Q4: How are biometrics collected?
Biometrics are typically collected using a device called asensor. These sensors are used to acquire the data neededfor recognition and to convert the data to a digital form.The quality of the sensor used has a significant impact onthe recognition results. Example “sensors” could be digitalcameras (for face recognition) or a telephone (for voicerecognition).
Q5: What are biometric templates?
A biometric template is a digital representation of anindividual’s distinct characteristics, representinginformation extracted from a biometric sample. Biometrictemplates are what are actually compared in a biometricrecognition system. Templates can vary between biometricmodalities as well as vendors. Not all biometric devicesare template based. For example, voice recognition isbased on “models.” The difference between templates andmodels is beyond the scope of this paper.
Q6: What is the difference between recognition, verificationand identification?
Recognition
is a generic term, and does not necessarilyimply either verification or identification. All biometricsystems perform “recognition” to “again know” aperson who has been previously enrolled.
Verification
is a task where the biometric systemattempts to confirm an individual’s claimed identity bycomparing a submitted sample to one or morepreviously enrolled templates.
Identification
is a task where the biometric systemattempts to determine the identity of an individual. Abiometric is collected and compared to all thetemplates in a database. Identification is “closed-set”if the person is known to exist in the database. In“open-set” identification, sometimes referred to as a
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