By Aidan Summerville

 The process inn which a person’s unique physical and other traits are detected and recorded by an electronic device or system as a means of confirming identity.( wse/biometrics) wse/biometrics  Commonly used as personal clock in methods by employers.  In more recent times used for personal devices such as laptops and smart phones.

 1.Iris.  2.Finger print.  3.Palm print.  4.Facial Recognition.  5.Hand shape.  6.Retina.  7.Ear.  8.Palm vein Imaging.  9.Voice.

 The first biometrics used was fingerprint analysis to prove criminal activity.  In the 1970s fingerprint identification started to be used on a large scale for personal clock ins for large companies.  Later palm print and hand size started to be used for clock ins at large companies.  Nowadays it is common practice among most large companies to use biometric check ins as it ensures that it is you using the machine.

 Iris and retina is used nowadays as it is more reliable than hand size, palm print and finger print, due to the fact that it is far less discriminatory.  People who have suffered disfigurement t or limb amputation are unable to use these machines. It is far less likely for an individual to be missing both eyes.  It is also much harder to impersonate someone else's, Iris or Retina.

 Biometrics for personal devices original was introduced by finger print scanners for laptops and later voice and facial recognition software for computers, laptops, smart phones and tablets.  Siri for iphone have a new voice recognition software usable instead of a password.  Finger print scanning technology is still the most commonly used today as it is by far the easiest and most reliable to use.  However usernames and personal passwords are by far and a way the most popular form of security.

PROSCONS  Protects against fraud.  Fast access no chance of forgetting the password.  Do not have to remember large amount of passwords.  Costly to implement.  Discriminatory.  Intrusive people have fears about the uses of their information.  Some biometrics such as voice recognition are possible to fake with a recording.

 In the future for personal devices I see some biometrics more realistically being used than others.  As cameras for phones become better facial recognition software may be used.  I also see palm print scanners possible for Tablets.  I don't for see voice recognition to last very long as it is not very secure and is open to theft.  Other biometrics may be used but the software and hardware are simply far to expensive in comparison to the ones in use today.

 To ensure against a fail in biometric or to just ensure the safety of a device it is almost necessary to use two biometrics.  For example palm print and facial recognition.  Using dual biometrics slows down the speed of use of biometrics but also increases the cost vastly.

 Certain biometrics are just not viable due to user acceptability.  Fingerprints are not social acceptable to use this may be due to the fact that they are associated with crime and government control.  Iris and retina scanners are extremely intrusive and would have a lot of people refusing to use them.

 Jain, Ask. Kumar, A. Biometrics of Next Generation: An Overview. 2010,Second Generation Biomtetrics Springer.  Anon,Biometric solutions to personal identification.  Trewin, S. Swart, C. Koved, L. Biometric Authentication on a Mobile Device: A Study of User Effort, Error and Task Disruption (2012)