Biometric Technology And Border Security

Effectiveness of Biometric Technology in our everyday life
3.2: Biometric Technology and Border Security

Origins
Following the horrific events that occurred on September 11th, border security has become one of the biggest concerns of governments around the world. As such, government agencies have turned to Biometric Technology to detect unauthorized personnel and prevent them from entering the country, or for apprehending them. Their main concerns involved the areas of visa and immigration documents like passports, or issued identity cards.

Advantages of Using Biometric Technology
A distinct advantage that Biometric Technology held over conventional passports or identity cards was that biometric information is essentially a part of
Irises have approximately 266 distinctive characteristics, including a trabecular meshwork, striations, rings, furrows, a corona, and freckles. Typically, about 173 of these distinctive characteristics are used in creating the template. Irises form during the eighth month of pregnancy and are thought to remain stable throughout an individual's life, barring injury.
These systems usually use a small camera to take a black-and-white, high-resolution image of the iris. Algorithms then define the boundaries of the iris and create a coordinate grid over the image. All the selected characteristics within the zones are then stored in a database as the individual's biometric
Fingerprint recognition relies on features found in the impressions made by distinct ridges on the fingertips. There are two types of fingerprints: flat or rolled. Flat prints are an impression of only the central area of the finger pad while rolled prints capture ridges on the sides of the finger as well as the central portion between the tip and first knuckle.
Fingerprint images are scanned, enhanced, and then converted into templates. These templates are saved in a database for future comparisons using optical, silicon, or ultrasound scanners. Ultrasound appears to be the most accurate, but is rarely used. Optical scanners are the most commonly used.

Legal and Political Implications
As the foregoing review suggests, the use of biometric technologies poses a host of interrelated policy questions, some of which are of general applicability to all biometric systems and others of which are technology- or use-specific. Among the questions one might ask are: Can the biometric system be narrowly tailored to its task? Who will oversee the program? What alternatives are there to biometric technologies? What information will be stored and in what form? To what facility/location will the biometric give