Biometrics - A civil liberties and privacy perspective

Abstract Business and government leaders seem to agree that the efficient running of the Information Superhighway will require accurate identification of humans. Indeed, the evolution of information technology for decades has sought to develop perfect identity of human subjects. The architects of modern information systems believe that with perfect identity lies the hope of perfect efficiency. Conversely, privacy advocates argue that perfect identity is the single most important condition for the establishment of a controlled society. And such a condition is anathema to civil rights. This short article explores the civil liberty and privacy issues that arise in the context of biometric-based identification.