An Analysis of Biometrics Security Applications and Ethical Concerns

This report delves into the multifaceted world of biometrics, examining its applications in security across various domains. It explores the use of facial recognition and fingerprint recognition, highlighting their respective strengths and weaknesses, while also touching upon geo-tracking technologies. The report emphasizes the importance of biometrics in enhancing security for businesses, governments, and consumers. It also addresses crucial ethical considerations surrounding the implementation and management of biometric technologies, particularly concerning data privacy and potential misuse. Furthermore, it discusses the advantages of biometrics in business contexts, such as improved efficiency and consumer confidence. The report concludes by underscoring the significance of biometrics in the current landscape and the need for careful consideration of ethical implications alongside technological advancements.

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................................. 1
Security Applications for Biometrics................................................................................................................ 1
Facial Recognition..................................................................................................................................................... 2
Confidentiality and Greater Consumer Confidence....................................................................................2
Ethical Considerations – Biometrics................................................................................................................. 3
Strength and weaknesses of finger prints and face recognition...........................................................3
Geo tracking – a study in time and space...................................................................................................3
Advantages in Business.................................................................................................................................... 4
Importance and Relevancy.............................................................................................................................. 4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Introduction
Safety and security has become an issue of great importance around the world, and technological
solutions to the issue are becoming extremely valuable for business, the government and the
consumer. Biometrics is a possible solution to safety and security and offers a wide range of
applications in a wide range of fields. Biometrics is for the realistic authentication which is for
identifying the individuals in groups that are under the surveillance. However, there are several
ethical issues of the implementation and management of this technology due to the sensitive and
vulnerable data and information that it protects. This report starts by exploring the applicants of
biometrics in a variety of fields and then moves on to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses.
Considerations are also make about the ethical implications of the technology.
Security Applications for Biometrics
The concept of biometric and associated devices is based on calculation of a distinct biological
feature of an individual like a person’s voice-based patterns and the iris or retina of the eye or
sometimes finger prints. This method of personal identification is superior because it offers a
high degree of accuracy as it is based on biological identification. Biometrics is therefore
applicable to a wide range of security measures useful to prevent intruders or criminals who may
want to access systems or sensitive information (Jones et al., 2014). The concept of face
scanning along with biometric technology is versatile in so many ways and this can be seen
ranges of so many prospective applications.
Given the higher degree of accuracy inherent in biological identification, there are many positive
applications, particularly in terms of security. Security system uses a device which plays an
important part in verifying the identity of an individual by focusing on the overall access based
control procedures. The concept of fingerprint recognition as one method of Biometrics, for
instance, looks for the distinct kind of pattern of valleys that is present in the finger print of an
individual. The patterns are distinct to every person and therefore also help to recognize people
from a large database of other fingerprints. The print of finger is inherent to a person can never
be stolen or lost which further make it right and trusted. (Bowyer et al., 2016). In addition, the
presence of less costly fingerprints readers is combined with easy level of integration and
capacities that lead to wide open deployment of biometrics in different companies (Zhang et al.,
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2013). The concept of verification and identification are two methods which an identity relates
to decide the usage of biometric technology, and therefore provide justification for is
implementation in many fields which require high-level security.
Verification helps in conforming that an individual surely claims to be and conduct comparison
on one to one level of the fingerprint sample of an individual to safe template for reference.
There is process of identification also conducts the people sample for fingerprint which is
completely against the entire templates stored.
Facial Recognition
The concepts of face biometrics have the prospective that can be combined at any place and find
an advance technology camera (Yates, 2017). There are number of law agencies as well
enforcing law son the world over the usage of overuse biometric software to scan the faces with
the help of CCTV footage along with recognizing the interest of field. There is different kind of
deployment as part face recognition process to test the identities of number travelers (Huerta et
al., 2016). Facial recognition is making a lot of difference with so many kinds of hard
identifications however; it also has the capacity to collect demographic kind of data for the
crowd. This further has made this technology sorted for the retail based marketing industry.
Confidentiality and Greater Consumer Confidence
The main motive of this concept is to save the overall confidentiality of present digital based data
which is stored on diverse computer systems or sometimes get transmission through internet or
similar networks. The modern time encryption and related algorithms also plays an important
role in assuring the security of the present IT system along with communication since it helps in
providing confidentiality (Middleton et al., 2013). At the time of arrival of important exchange
and algorithms in RSA, the present government and the associated armies were just the user
related with encryption. But RSA further led to broader use of the concept in the commercial as
well as consumer realms to save the data at the time it is sent across the network as well as stored
like hard drive or flash drive. Other devices like modem, smartcards or SIM uses encryption to
depend on the protocols like the concept of SSH or SSL to encrypt the confidential data
(Schneider et al., 2014). The concept of encryption is also utilized to save data in transit and send
from every part of devices across every kind of network. But we need to focus on some issues as
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well that the system is only for the ATM which could easily be a problem as and when hacked
by the other people. Mobile phone in the present time can be used not just for calling but for
multiple purposes like pressing a key to unlock a car and the concept is utilized here to save the
data and it can be further relayed for the same. There are so many kinds of digital rights in
management system which saves any kind of unauthorized usage or concepts of reproduction of
number of copyrighted work and can be taken as an example of encryption (Carayon et al.,
2014).
Ethical Considerations – Biometrics
The issues are related to the users and the business people who are hesitant about the
implementation where there are offensive forms and the invasions in the dignity, rights and the
space. The people feel untrustworthy and embarrassed when they must give their biometric
identity. The people also are seen to the fear threatened by the fraud and the other identity threat
where the information of the individual is being accessed and then misused by the other person
like the hacker or there is a stolen identity of the person.
Strength and weaknesses of finger prints and face recognition
The facial recognition with the advantage is the non-intrusive and the cheap technology. The
disadvantage for the same is the 2D recognition which is mainly affected by the change in
lightning, hair of the person and the age. This also require the equipment for the proper user
identification which is not likely to be popular till it is a standard equipment.
The finger prints advantage is the high accuracy, easy user authentication, easy to use and the
small storage space with the biometric template. The disadvantage is about the mistakes with the
dryness or the dirty finger or skin, image capture in 500 dots per inch.
Geo tracking – a study in time and space
The concept of geo tracking has been in business for quite some time now and has also
characterized in the varied news since people are realizing that the brand like Apple is constantly
supervising and recording every kind of move of the owner of iPhone. While using this product
one can find the data that also shows that the time for people to come and the time they leave
from different locations. This further happens at the routine basis and records all the moves from
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one place to another. The important question here is that how these all this happens and the usage
is based on combination of diverse technologies to properly track the location which also
happens to include the GPS signals as well as also access the internet with triangulation for the
signal on the phone especially when it is connected to diverse cell towers (Huerta et al., 2016).
The owner of android phone is also constantly tracked as well as supervised with the similar
level of detailed discussion related all kind of movements that cannot be properly accessed by
the phone.
Advantages in Business
The advantages in business are based on the needs that can be located by someone. For instance,
the case of an emergency call for a professional like engineer to meet a consumer and the nearest
level of support for an engineer can be recognized and then later contacted along with routed to
visit a consumer and the nearest system of support engineer can be recognized and then properly
contacted with routed to visit the consumer. This provides the advantage to the consumer since
the response to them can be much faster and it can also fix the issue and further get them
working again. At the time of sending out an email to the subscriber, the track of all the event
data is in the reporting form to permit the people to see the complete range of statistics on the
overall performance of the campaign. The concept of geo tracking takes this as a one step in
addition to the plotting of the event on communicative international map to discuss exactly about
people and read the emails (Huerta et al., 2016). The additional level of detail in the reporting
will further permit to gain a high level of understanding of the active subscribers and the overall
reach of the campaigns. There are some of the issues which includes that due to the network
disruption, the geo tracking does not work properly and leads to disruption. Hence, for the same,
it is important to be safe as every technology is depending upon the internet. Hence with this, as
the technology change it not only includes the changes in the life of the people but also brings
the change in the normal functioning of the life.
Importance and Relevancy
Development of the targeted campaign is also based on data that can hugely improve the number
of outcomes and the level of engagement with the recipients. The importance of relevancy is a
key to keep the consumer well engaged and loyal to the brand as well as products. Many
companies are using the technology to for marketing and in fact email has opened so many doors
for the same. There are number of things which can be known and can be discussed commonly
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about the features of Geo tracking device with the customers. This can result in making an
important statement (Meeks et al., 2014). The concept of geo tracking also helps in providing an
updated data about the location where someone has further opened the email for the same.
People also must move on regular basis which further means that the emails are always on the
target for people that know highly open it at workplace or home. It is not important for the
recipient to note and update the location with people and when the data is given by a third party,
people can rapidly become outdated or redundant.
Considerations for the use of Geo-Tracking
It is also important to understand here that the concept of geo tracking doesn’t always like to
track the mobile especially when the users can access the email with the help of cellular based
data on phone network (Carter, 2016). Therefore; it means that people can report while providing
a good indication to the receiver real location and whether that is at workplace or at home. The
concept of encryption is based on converting the electronic data in a form which is different and
known as cypher text which sometimes is not easy to understand by any individual except the
authority. According to Schwalbe (2015), there are some important elements of security and
encryption:
1. Authentication: the message can be easily verified through its origin.
2. Non-repudiation: the person who sends the message cannot complete say no to the
sending of message.
3. Integrity: there are many evidences that the current content of the message has not been
transformed since the time it was sent.
Data is also called as plain text and is further encrypted to use an algorithm and the key for it.
The overall procedure created cipher level of text that can be seen in its actual form and further
decrypted with the right key. The concept of decryption is simply the opposite of the concept of
encryption. It follows the same steps but there are reverse as well where the keys can be applied.
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Conclusion
In last so many years, the danger of any kind of harm caused in an industry is achieving a lot of
supervision and scrutiny. It is important to see that both the geo tracking and biometrics are
important in their respective sense with some of its strengths and weakness. The whole system in
the present IT world is based on biometric which is important and beneficial than geo tracking
because I feel that it helps not only a proper verification of the individual but no cheating of any
case is possible, even extreme additions are put in. The biometrics needs to be handled with the
uniqueness, performance that mainly relates to the different traits which vary over time. The
measurability and the performance relate to the accuracy, speed and the robustness of the
technology.
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