The future of biometric technology and trends in 2021
Biometric technologies are rapidly becoming a part of the daily life of people around the world. Through integration with mobile devices, many of us interact with some form of biometric authentication daily. The future of biometric trends is medicine, banking services, marketing research, and many other industries in which personal identification is required.
The Future of Biometric Security
Secure Data Storage
Business Applications
Mobile Payment
Online Banking
Immigration Services
Covering Government Needs
Staff Management
Health Care and Social Assistance
Multi-Factor Authentication
Biometric Trends in 2021
Authentication Tools
Biometric Single Sign-on Services
Facial and Voice Recognition
Mobile Biometric Technologies
Cloud-Based Biometric Solutions
FAQ
What is facial recognition?
How does biometric face recognition work?
What is facial recognition by AI?
What is facial recognition on a cell phone?
What is face detection in payment systems?
Recommended reading
The Future of Biometric Security
Many biometric services are currently under development and testing. However, in a few years, these biometric technologies will be introduced everywhere. Plastic cards will recede into the background soon, and fingerprint scans will become a standard daily operation.
The apparent problem with biometrics is its publicity. Everyone knows that you have fingers, eyes, and a face. However, “open biometric data” is just the tip of the iceberg. Experiments are underway with every possible trait, from monitoring your heart rate to implanting chips under your skin, as well as scanning intraocular vessels, the shape of your earlobes, and more.
The future of biometric security is likely to lie in simplicity. Improving modern methods is the easiest way to provide a high level of protection. For example, you can scan a 3D image of a fingerprint and analyze all of its minutiae.
Biometric identification technologies are improving so quickly that it is difficult to predict what they will look like in a few years. One thing that can be assumed quite confidently — passwords that were difficult to use, change, and remember will remain in the past.
Secure Data Storage
Biometrics are not used for data protection; biometrics are used for identification and authorization, but it isn’t the only tool used for those purposes. Users can choose how they will be identified — by regular PIN codes, passwords, documents, or a fingerprint and retina scan.
No system provides 100% protection against the actions of intruders. Biometrics are no exception. However, the use of biometrics as a second authentication factor can significantly increase the security of protected data. It is recommended to use bimodal biometric authentication systems that reduce the likelihood of false identification to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information.
Business Applications
Let’s take a closer look at the most widely spread business application of biometrics data.
Mobile Payment
Mobile payments are considered more secure than card payments due to the possibility of using biometric technologies to confirm the buyer's identity. For example, when using the Apple Pay mobile payment service, a user next to a contactless reader can confirm payment by merely placing their finger on their iPhone.
The number of smartphones and tablets with integrated fingerprint readers shipped worldwide will increase by more than 1 billion devices annually until 2021, when this figure reaches 34%. In some regions, these numbers may be higher. For example, in North America, 51% of all mobile devices will be equipped with biometric technology by 2021.
Online Banking
Biometric data used to identify users (facial recognition and retinal scans, in particular) is currently considered one of the vital biometric trends in global Internet banking. Until recently, the most common type of biometric identification was fingerprint. Although human fingerprints are unique, this technology has its drawbacks.
Biometric data is not seen as the only comprehensive alternative to the user's usual logins and passwords. They are used as a duplicate opportunity to authorize or confirm an operation. Roughly speaking, if your biometrics didn't work for some reason, there is always a fallback (enter a password or call the contact center). At the same time, biometrics does not reduce the level of application security — rather, it increases it.
Immigration Services
Biometric passenger identification systems have become one of the leading technological innovations in airports, customs, and other checkpoints worldwide. Face recognition technologies and fingerprints are used for passenger boarding and for baggage check-in. Biometric passports are widespread, and, in combination with biometric kiosks, they can provide reliable identification of a person and automate the process of moving people across borders.
Covering Government Needs
Biometric data is increasingly used for border control and counter-terrorism purposes. They can be used by law enforcement agencies to identify a person with a high degree of accuracy.
Also, states use biometric technology for forensic purposes. The use of biometrics in forensic science is useful because it allows you to identify a person and confirm their involvement or non-involvement in a particular crime. It can reveal the connection between a given person and some action, event, place, or another person before, during, or after a particular incident.
Staff Management
The biometric HR solution provides more accurate attendance information, eliminates unnecessary payroll costs, and reduces labor costs. It also reduces operating costs by eliminating the need for an ID card or key fobs. Besides this, using biometrics to identify employees can increase employee accountability, which will directly lead to increased productivity.
Health Care and Social Assistance
Health care institutions around the world are stepping up the use of biometric technology. Biometric identification of patients optimizes the treatment process and virtually eliminates the possibility of errors. The use of biometric tools for accessing medical systems reliably protects processed information (including patients' data). It frees staff from the unproductive and time-consuming work of constantly entering logins and passwords.
The introduction of biometrics into physical access control systems ensures the rational organization of the movement of patients, employees, and visitors across the territory of healthcare institutions. The comfort and utmost ease of identification of representatives of each of these groups are combined with the reliability and efficiency of access control measures.
Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication uses smart cards, tokens or passwords, and biometrics to reduce the likelihood of biometric fraud. This type of authentication is the most effective method of protecting against unauthorized access since the use of several completely independent factors significantly reduces the likelihood that they will be used simultaneously.
In this case, to deceive the latter, the attacker needs additional identifiers and fake biometric data. But multi-factor authentication also diminishes the main advantage of biometric systems — usability.
Biometric Trends in 2021
Let’s overview the most prominent biometric trends in 2021.
Authentication Tools
There are two main biometric trends in the use of authenticating devices. The first trend is multimodal biometric authentication, when not one biometric technology is used, but several are used at once. The second is the use of a personal device as a biometric access token. All modern smartphones are equipped with a camera and a microphone. Many have a fingerprint scanner; for example, Samsung also has an iris scanner built into its flagship device.
Biometric Single Sign-on Services
Biometric single sign-on technology provides the ability to use a single identifier to access all authorized IT resources and systems. To enter the application, the user only needs to provide authentication data by performing the actions corresponding to the methods used: putting their finger on the reader, going through face recognition, or saying a key phrase to be determined by voice. For example, having passed the authentication procedure in the operating system, the user automatically gets access to various applications without repeatedly entering their account data.
Facial and Voice Recognition
Face recognition technology is developing rapidly. The main trends for 2021 are mobile phone authentication and identity definitions in crowded places.
One of the modern biometric trends in voice recognition is the introduction of voice control devices into cars. Such devices will centrally control most of the car's functions using a human voice, eliminating the need for buttons, dials, and switches. Using voice recognition devices, consumers will be able to easily control a range of vehicle functionalities, which is more comfortable and allows them to focus on driving without being distracted.
Mobile Biometric Technologies
The development trends of biometric devices boil down to a significant decrease in this type of device and improve ease of use. The mobile biometrics market segment's development is associated with the active use of smartphones with pre-installed sensors.
Simultaneously, the use of biometric characteristics for authentication will be used not only for unlocking mobile devices but also for organizing multi-factor authentication and instant confirmation of electronic payments.
Cloud-Based Biometric Solutions
The development of biometric identification is parallel to the development of cloud services. Modern technological solutions aim to integrate various segments into complex solutions that satisfy all the needs of the client, not only in ensuring physical security. So, combining cloud services and biometrics as part of multi-factor authentication devices is a step that fully meets the spirit of the times and looks forward to the future.
FAQ
What is facial recognition?
Face recognition is a process of identification or authentication (verification) of a person's identity based on the characteristic features and individual parameters of his face — the distance between the pupils of the eyes, the shape of the bridge of the nose, and the contours of the lips, ears, chin, etc.
How does biometric face recognition work?
Technically, this process consists of several independent procedures: face detection with a unique photo or video sensor, image capture, analysis of details, the formation of a digital face model, and pattern-matching.
What is facial recognition by AI?
Facial recognition by AI software is based on image processing and the computation of complex mathematical algorithms that require a more powerful server than is usually needed for video surveillance systems.
The camera's facial image is sent to the system, where a biometric algorithm processes it. First, the picture is converted into an array of points. Then it is converted into a variety of numbers, which are processed by mathematical algorithms. At the output, we get a biometric model — a file with a specific sequence of numbers.
What is facial recognition on a cell phone?
Cell phone facial recognition technology is continually being improved by manufacturers to significantly increase the device's security level and other authentication methods. The front camera quickly takes pictures of the user and highlights the main features of their appearance. The system compares the video on the screen with the saved image. The software determines the shape and structure of the face, as well as the color and shape of the eyes, and creates a virtual head model.
What is face detection in payment systems?
Face recognition is gradually being introduced into payment systems. To register, you need to download a mobile application with which you can link a bank card or e-wallet and take a photo. The technology allows the buyer to make a purchase, even if they can’t use the usual payment methods. Also, this reduces the risk of an unauthorized individual using the card.