Biometric technology commonly has
been linked with security goals. For example, it is extolled as the most secure
and convenient form of authentication because biometrics "cannot be borrowed, stolen, over
and done or forged". There also has been conversation about the balance
between security and privacy, counting biometrics'
inroads on civil liberties in the name of public safety. Yet, as pointed out by
Clement, the so-called "trading off" between solitude and security is
an unfortunate way of looking at the issue "an interruption that
prematurely concedes and obscures a dangerous presumption". The strong confidence
in the efficacy of technology may really be a romanticized illusion.
Human beings have an almost blind faith in all things scientific, and biometrics is positively cloaked in a
"scientific" mantle.
Technology Limitations
The fuzzy nature of biometrics poses novel challenges and can create
new security holes. Unlike passwords or plain text, each time a biometric is deliberate the surveillance might
differ. In the case of fingerprint matching, for example, the reading might
change because of elastic deformations in the skin when placed on the sensor,
or because of dust particles, oil, and so on. Moreover the devices that are in
use—cameras, sensors, and so on—are, like human eyes and approach, imperfect;
they will not always be able to differentiate subtle differences between
people.
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