Biometrics blogs
I occasionally delve into biometrics issues, but these people do it more often:
I occasionally delve into biometrics issues, but these people do it more often:
In which we enter the alternative universe in which police always believe dreadlocked individuals
I previously raised the question about whether Interference Inc. was prompt in letting the authorities know that the so-called bombs in Boston weren't bombs. Now a new question has been raised - was Peter Berdovsky prompt in letting Interference Inc. know that the guerilla marketing campaign had gone sour? And should he have informed the on-scene officers that there was nothing to worry about? The issue was raised because Berdovsky videotaped police at a (supposed) bomb site. This is what the Associated Press said : One of the men criminally charged after placing blinking cartoon advertisements around the city videotaped a police bomb squad removing one of the electronic devices, but did not tell the officers the object was harmless. Surveillance cameras caught 27-year-old Peter Berdovsky videotaping officers removing what they thought was a possible bomb. But Walter Prince , Berdovsky's new layer (replacing semi-guardian Michael Rich ), puts a different spin on the whol...
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Easy to use, impossible to lose!
In the simplest definition, biometrics is the idea of using human characteristics as identification.
Every person is unique. The way you walk, the way you look, the way you write your name are all ways of distinguishing you as an individual. Essentially, we all carry our identification with us at all times. It’s us. It was inevitable to convert those characteristics into something that may prevent your identity from being stolen. Or even having your home broken into.
How can your physical features prevent theft?
We were born with our fingerprints. It’s just not something you can change. And no one else can take them. That’s the beauty of biometrics. You weren’t born with a driver’s license, or a pin code (but if you were, we would like rights to your story!). Those can be taken, borrowed, stolen - you name it.
The same goes for your signature. If you can remember back when you were a kid and forged your parent’s signature on the report card…. You got caught. Didn’t you?
Or even if you didn’t, you sure did sweat it out thinking you would because it wasn’t exactly like the original. If your teacher had used a biometric signature capture device to decipher the handwriting instead of her own eye, she would have caught it.
The identification has always been there. It’s just taken this long to find the technology that would retrieve it....
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Note that the "every person is unique" is a big assumption (and, to some, an unproven assumption) (and, in some cases such as DNA, untrue).