Identify Your Future in Biometrics

Will you pay with cash, debit or biometric scan? That's right -- someday soon, cashiers might use the science of identifying people by their bodies.

Biometrics is more than 20 years old. However, new technology and security issues have brought it to the forefront.

Airports are considering biometric scanners to make sure passengers are who they claim to be. Banks talk about using eye scans to confirm cash machines give money to the right people. Canada is exploring giving everyone biometric identity cards.

"Biometrics are automated applications for identifying people based on physiological and behavioral characteristics," says Trevor Prout. He is director of marketing for the International Biometric Group (IBG) in New York City.

Let's put it this way. If your school locker was protected by biometrics, it might only open if the combination lock recognized your fingerprints and the way you spin the dial. If some prankster did know your combination, the lock would not open.

Afzel Noore is a computer science professor at West Virginia University. He says using more than one way to recognize people is a big step in biometrics. Another important step is creating tools to recognize liveness. Liveness is the ability to tell the difference between a real person and a photograph.

"The use of multiple biometrics to automatically identify humans will be of paramount importance. It provides additional reliability for making positive identification," says Noore.

And you don't have to be a computer whiz to work in the industry. "Since the industry is relatively new, not a lot of people out there have biometrics experience," says Prout.

People with computer programming, network and security backgrounds have transferable skills that work for biometrics. But jobs are not limited to computer programmers and scientists.

"Non-scientists have an important role to play," says Noore. "They can effectively address issues related to privacy laws, privacy rights, study of societal and political implications, and assess the need, cost and benefits."

Jane Snipes is a U.S.-based recruiter working with biometric companies. "Scientists will need a PhD and engineers will need master's level degrees, but there will also be plenty of jobs for non-scientists, particularly in sales...and customer service," she says.

"Many of my clients are currently looking for sales and sales support professionals. Also, product management and marketing are major areas of focus as well."

Shoude Chang works with the National Research Council of Canada. His research shows the number of biometric devices in use will jump to over 50,000 by the end of 2010.

Prout says the top three markets are law enforcement, government and travel.

The IBG and the International Biometrics Industry Association report there are more than 250 biometrics companies around the world. Prout says there is a mix of new small companies and large electronics firms getting into the biometrics business.

"I think it will grow somewhat," Prout says. "But the landscape will continue to change. There will be mergers. Companies will fail."

So how can you get involved?

The U.S. College Search Web site lists at least 15 American colleges and universities offering biometrics courses. West Virginia University, where Noore teaches, is one of them.

"Students need to explore internship opportunities or co-op opportunities with companies that are involved in the design, implementation, testing and evaluation of biometric sensors, hardware and software systems," says Noore.

"Undertaking projects as part of their curriculum would provide an exposure to students in this emerging area."

Young people searching for biometrics careers should also study more than one kind of science.

"Multidisciplinary fields covering electrical engineering, computer engineering, statistics, biology and computer science will provide the basis to undertake projects related to biometrics," says Noore.

Not everyone is happy about the progress being made in biometrics, however. As the field grows, some people are afraid even more personal information will be available for fraud and identity theft.

Others fear police will invade their privacy. The Web-based magazine Spectrum Online reported the 2001 Super Bowl in Florida was nicknamed Snooperbowl after police secretly scanned the faces of 100,000 fans and compared them to pictures of known criminals.

Chang says health concerns could scare some people, too. For example, they might fear getting sick by touching public hand scanners during flu season.

Prout says privacy concerns rise when people don't understand the technology. "For some people, it raises Big Brother fears about how the data will be used," he says.

The IBG is tackling these concerns by developing a bioprivacy initiative that outlines how to use biometrics without invading privacy.

Noore welcomes debate about the pros and cons of biometrics.

"The debate in favor of and against biometrics will continue," he says. "This is healthy because it highlights the critical issues and challenges the industry has to overcome to succeed and work toward showing that the benefits far outweigh the concerns."

Net Sites

Biometrics Digest Articles
Read Jane Snipes' articles about biometrics careers
http://www.northstarcorp.com/subindex.asp?id=35

How Biometrics Works
An in-depth review by the folks at HowStuffWorks.com
http://science.howstuffworks.com/biometrics.htm

The Biometrics Catalog
A government-sponsored database of information about biometric technologies
http://www.biometricscatalog.org/default.aspx

International Biometric Industry Association
Read the latest industry news, and learn how biometric technology is applied in other fields
http://www.ibia.org/