July #biometricchat Recap Including the Entire Chat Transcript

It was discovered that all of the tweets that originated from our guest on Thursday’s #biometricchat were not able to be seen by those who were participating. It appears that due to a technical glitch in tweet chat platform software, @olemariuss tweets to the questions posed to him during the chat were not actively posted to the hashtag and thus could not bee seen on any Twitter platforms or readers.

We are deeply sorry for this error, and would like to post the transcript of the chat here so those who weren’t able to make it or were sitting in on the chat and couldn’t see the guests tweets have the opportunity to learn from all of the great information our guest shared.

Here are a list of the questions, and our guest’s responses:

Question 1

@m2sys: How do you explain the dichotomy between public acceptance of biometrics for identity cards or passports and the use of biometrics to replace personal identification numbers (PINs)?

@olemariuss: A1: The dichotomy comes from organizations managing the                                 biometrics. Governments, with public trust, issue identity cards.

@olemariuss A1: A bank is more seen on as a private company out to make                              money. Not necessarily to protect identities

@olemariuss: A1: Within private companies the public has different views.

@olemariuss: A1: People will more easily provide their biometrics to what is                             seen on as high security companies (eg. banks, airlines).

@olemariuss: A1: People will more easily provide their biometrics to what is seen on as high security companies (eg. banks, airlines).

Question 2

@m2sys: While we see “civil liberties” and “privacy” as one of the obstacles to wider use of biometrics in the US, is that the same thing you are seeing in your European survey?

@olemariuss: A2: The survey does not cover this topic directly. Further, the public does not have thorough knowledge about the subject.

@olemariuss: A2: Data protection laws differ from country to country and is very different across Europe.

@olemariuss: A2: There has been a trend changing. Biometrics can be used as long as it is not uniquely connected to a person file.

@olemariuss: A2: Shortly put, biometrics can be used for authentication and not identification.

Question 3

@m2sys: One of the dynamics that appears to be evident is that while people want to guard their biometric data, if they can get to the head of the line (e.g. Clear Me airport security program) they are willing to give up their biometrics.  Can you comment on how convenience and faster transactions might impact the more pervasive use of biometrics?

@olemariuss: A3: This goes to show how low the threshold is for organizations to utilize biometrics in regards to public acceptance.

@olemariuss: A3: Most individuals tend to “forget” their privacy concerns if they see a personal gain by providing biometrics.

@olemariuss: A3: How the solution I set up technically is not the public’s concern as it is often out of their knowledge area.

@olemariuss: A3: Biometrics is still a bit “scary”. The usability is important to achieve adaptability of the wider public.

Question 4

@m2sys: Some country’s public sector organizations that have collected biometrics for a specific purpose are making them available for use by the private sector to prevent fraud, assure a person’s identity, etc.  Do you believe this is a trend we will see more of?

@olemariuss: A4: Within biometrics you often see the most seamless solutions when setting up in green-field markets.

@olemariuss: A4: I do believe that National ID documents will play a very important role in assuring a person’s identity.

@olemariuss: A4: If biometrics is used at all, it is often only on the card, and not in a central database.

@olemariuss: A4: More countries to bane way with successful implementations with proven results before we see this as a larger trend.

Question 5

@m2sys: How will “passive” biometrics like facial recognition, voice recognition and iris at a distance be accepted since it doesn’t require any specific actions by a person for it to be used?

@olemariuss: A5: When using passive biometrics it is important the public does not feel as they are under surveillance.

@olemariuss: A5: By being open and providing information about the solution where it is used acceptance can be easier to acquire.

Question 6

@m2sys: What strategies can biometric vendors deploy to help advance the public’s understanding of biometric identification that may help it to be more acceptable as a replacement for personal identification (PIN) numbers?

@olemariuss: A6: To acquire understanding, the first step is to “educate” organizations using biometrics to utilize it correctly.

@olemariuss: A6: Acceptance will come stepwise when more and more solutions prove a more convenient identification.

@olemariuss: A6: Increased security or fraud is not the big concern of the public as they do not see the effect in their daily tasks.

Question 7

@m2sys: What new or forthcoming biometric modalities (e.g. – heartbeat, thermal imaging, gait, DNA, etc.) do you predict has the best chance to become sustainable in the industry? Are there any specific modalities that you feel the public accepts more readily than others?

@olemariuss: A7: Adding new modalities to the market will be difficult. The biometrics already widely used can cover most use cases.

@olemariuss: A7: I believe the “passive” modalities have the most chance. These can be introduced without the public interaction.

@olemariuss: A7: Examples can be thermal imaging for crowd size calculations or gait for opening doors.

We hope that you found the information shared by during the chat to be helpful and we thank them for their time and lending their expertise to our monthly chat on biometric technology.

We will be announcing August’s #biometricchat tweet chat guest on this blog in the next 2 weeks. In the meantime, if you have an idea for a chat please email us at: marketing@m2sys.com