Editorials

Editorials and in-depth opinion about biometric industry news and issues.

Use of biometric gun lockers should be mandatory

guns


It’s undeniable that America has a destructive gun culture that is borne out by the high correlation between mass gun ownership and violence. The continued embrace of a constitutional protection to “bear arms” which was devised over 200 years ago to protect 13 colonies from British tyranny has ensured that the contemporary United States is awash with more guns than people, along with more gun violence. In 2009, the U.S. Congress estimated that there were 310 million firearms in the

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U.S. should adopt biometrics IDs for Social Security

social-security-biometrics


Comprehensive immigration reform in the United States might spur the implementation of nationwide biometric identification. BiometricUpdate.com reported last week that both John McCain and Chuck Schumer have indicated that their bipartisan approach to immigration reform in the U.S. Senate could require biometric information, such as a fingerprint, to be included in the Social Security system. The senators indicated during a media roundtable with Politico that biometrics should be used to ensure that employers only hire U.S. citizens and legal permanent

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Biometric fitness, healthcare applications featured at Consumer Electronics Show

CES


While only a limited number of biometric products and services were featured at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show last week, a notable number of biometric technologies were profiled, mainly in the healthcare space. These demonstrations were also accompanied with a robust discussion about the emergence of new biometric technologies. Among the technologies displayed included fingerprint sensors from Validity Sensors. The firm demonstrated its “Natural ID” authentication technology, along with discussing its road map for personal computers and mobile sensors. Validity Sensors showed how

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Trusted traveler programs offer speedy and unfair advantage

trusted-traveller


Trusted traveler programs provide expedited travel for pre-approved, low risk travelers through dedicated lanes and kiosks. The programs have proliferated over the past several years due to increased air travel and globalized business. The United States, through its homeland security department, offers multiple programs: which include NEXUS and SENTRI. NEXUS is a joint program with the Canada Border Services Agency that allows pre-screened, approved travelers faster processing. NEXUS was established in 2002 as part of the Shared Border Accord, a

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Big Data allows governments to spy on citizens with impunity

big-data


Governments in North America will increase their use of “Big Data” technologies to spy on their citizens. A recent report in the Wall Street Journal has noted that the U.S. government has granted a little-known agency entitled the National Counterterrorism Center with sweeping authority to store and monitor massive amounts of data about law-abiding Americans. The Center serves as the primary organization in the U.S. government for integrating and analyzing all intelligence pertaining to terrorism and serves as the central

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U.S. electoral system requires reform, biometric technology

US-election


It is an understatement to observe that the United States has an electoral system that is completely disorganized, and which is not designed or funded to cope with high turnout. On the run up to recent U.S. presidential election, David Frum, a conservative commentator labeled America’s voting system a “disgrace”. He noted in a CNN opinion piece that: “Americans worry more about voter fraud than do voters in other countries, because they are the only country without a reliable system

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People fear the future of technological surveillance

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People quite rightly fear new forms of state surveillance that might possibly emerge in everyday life. They fear the future use by police of holographic data screens, citywide surveillance cameras, and multiple dimensional maps and database feeds that monitor the movements of law-abiding citizens. They fear the future as depicted by a popular online short film called “Plurality” that has taken YouTube by storm: People fear the use of biometric data linked to government intelligence profiles because they do not

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U.S. military should leverage biometrics to secure critical infrastructure

joint-colours


U.S. defense secretary Leon Panetta has warned about the possibility of a catastrophic “cyber Pearl Harbor” attack against critical American infrastructure and strategic assets. “A cyber attack perpetrated by nation states or violent extremist groups could be as destructive as the terrorist attack of 9/11,” he said in an address to business executives in New York last week. “Such a destructive cyber terrorist attack could paralyze the nation.” The secretary pointed to denial of service attacks that many large U.S.

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FBI will continue to spend billions on biometrics

FBI


The adoption of new technologies such as facial recognition and multi-modal biometrics by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation should come as no surprise. The bureau has a long history of adopting the latest technologies and cumulatively spending billions of dollars to fight crime. The origin of the FBI’s crime lab goes back to the 1930s, after FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover introduced forensic science to American law enforcement after the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby. In the

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Biometrics beneficial to banking sector

biometric-atm


The banking industry has used authentication measures for clients to access their accounts and other banking services, which includes PINs, tokens and signatures. Now, the question is: Will North American banks eventually use biometrics to authenticate its clients? For nearly a decade, Japanese banks have used biometric authentication using vein pattern recognition from Fujitsu for security purposes, and BiometricUpdate.com recently reported that the Philippines will use biometrics to verify provision of government pensions. But so far, the use of biometric authentication is not widespread

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