The use of biometrics is necessary and inevitable but its implementation poses major challenges in respect of scale and data protection, according to a report on the future impact of the technology published by the European Commission yesterday.
Biometric identifiers are set to become an increasingly common part of daily life, following an EU decision last year to introduce biometrics in passports, visas and residence permits from 2006.According to the study, Biometrics at the Frontiers: Assessing the Impact on Society, this will have a knock-on effect on civil and commercial life, as people become more familiar with the technology, costs come down, and applications become more widespread.Enhanced security and convenience are among the benefits put forward by the report, which also warns that, like all technologies, biometrics has its limits."Biometric identification is not perfect – it is never 100% certain, it is vulnerable to errors and it can be 'spoofed,'" says the report. "The biometric system is only one part of an overall identification or authentication process, and the other parts of that process will play an equal role in determining its effectiveness."The report's authors, at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre, recommend that policy-makers act now to shape the use of biometrics so as to obtain the maximum benefit from it. In particular, says the report, action now could result in:
The creation of a clear definition of purpose for each biometric application – preventing function creep and encouraging user acceptance. Adequate privacy and data protection safeguards are necessary to achieve this.
The enhancement, as opposed to erosion, of privacy – allowing authentication of an individual without revealing his identity. This contrasts with fears expressed by privacy activists that the technology could create a "surveillance society", but could, says the report, be realised by using multiple biometrics to segregate personal information and by developing privacy-enhancing policy measures.
The creation of a dynamic European biometrics industry – by building public acceptance of the technology; creating appropriate privacy and data protection safeguards; demanding open standards and interoperability; and kick-starting a competitive supply market for the technology, initially through the introduction of the new passports.
Flexibility – in order to deal with the inevitable difficulties and errors that will occur when taking, assessing or rejecting a biometric sample. This could be ensured by, for example, having trained staff to take over when necessary.
More research in vital areas – further developing the technology and gaining empirical data upon which the practical deployment of biometric systems can be based. The report suggests that large-scale field trials should be carried out.
A director of a care home has been prosecuted under UK data protection laws over his handling of a data subject access request (DSAR) concerning a care home resident.
AI developers in the EU are to get help with signposting the systems and models they offer amidst a push by policymakers to drive AI adoption in the trading bloc.
The UK’s data protection authority has won an appeal against a tribunal ruling which originally found it did not have the power to take enforcement action against an AI facial recognition software developer.
We use cookies that are essential for our site to work. To improve our site, we would like to use additional cookies to help us understand how visitors use it, measure traffic to our site from social media platforms and to personalise your experience. Some of the cookies that we use are provided by third parties. To accept all cookies click ‘accept all’. To reject all optional cookies click ‘reject all’. To choose which optional cookies to allow click ‘cookie settings’. This tool uses a cookie to remember your choices.
Please visit our cookie policy for more information.
We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience.An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.
