New IBIA White Papers Explain Benefits of Biometric Identification

“The white papers represent the latest examples of the IBIA’s ongoing public education effort on biometric technologies…”

The International Biometrics + Identity Association (IBIA) has issued two new white papers aimed evangelizing the benefits of biometrics.

One of the papers, entitled “The Biometric Answer to the Identity Challenge”, lays out the case for biometric identification in broad terms. For a growing number of citizens and consumers around the world, it’s a case that hardly needs to be made, since biometrics are playing an increasing role in authentication on consumer devices and in identifying travelers and individuals trying to access government services; but with a great many authentication scenarios still relying on vulnerable password-based security, there is evidently still a need to spell out just how much more effective biometrics can be.

The other paper can be seen as a corollary or appendix to the aforementioned. Entitled “Biometrics Explained: Answers to 13 Basic Biometrics Questions”, it’s a kind of general Q&A, addressing concerns such as “How do you protect biometrics data?” and “What is spoofing?”

The white papers represent the latest examples of the IBIA’s ongoing public education effort on biometric technologies, with the industry alliance having issued a white paper in January defending the Department of Homeland Security’s Biometric Exit program against a critique from the Georgetown University Center on Privacy & Technology.