CHAPTER 11 – Securing Biometric Data

Securing access to physical locations and to data if of primary concern in many personal, commercial, governmental and military contexts. Classic solutions include carrying an identifying document or remembering a password. Problems with the former include forgeries while problems with the latter include poorly-chosen or forgotten passwords. Computer-verifiable biometrics, such as fingerprints and iris scans, provide an attractive alternative to conventional solutions. Biometrics have the advantage that, unlike passwords, they do not have to be remembered and, unlike identifying documents, they are difficult to forge. However, they have characteristics that raise new security challenges. Edited Book on Distributed Source Coding This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose. Permission to copy in whole or in part without payment of fee is granted for nonprofit educational and research purposes provided that all such whole or partial copies include the following: a notice that such copying is by permission of Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.; an acknowledgment of the authors and individual contributions to the work; and all applicable portions of the copyright notice. Copying, reproduction, or republishing for any other purpose shall require a license with payment of fee to Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright c ©Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc., 2008 201 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139