Biometrics in Our Daily Lives: Everything That Is Known About You

Biometric systems as we know them today have only become available to companies and consumers in the last decade, but the history of biometric technologies is based on concepts developed hundreds of years ago. For example, the Vucetich System of our Juan Vucetich Kovacevich, an anthropologist who developed a fingerprint recognition system in Argentina, or Henry’s fingerprint classification system developed by Sir Edward Henry at the end of the 19th century, which was used for the identification of criminals in British India.

Recently, the use of biometrics has expanded due to technological advancements, especially in the years following the pandemic. From systems for identifying criminals, biometric authentication has expanded to a wide range of industries and everyday actions, from unlocking smartphones to measuring temperature and crossing borders. Biometric authentication is a method of using unique biological markers to verify or confirm someone’s identity. Some analysts categorize it into two groups. The first category of analysis and recognition includes biological markers such as fingerprints, scent, or hand geometry, while the second includes behavioral characteristics, such as the way someone signs their name or walks.

Market Growth

In 2020, it was estimated that 80 percent of active smartphones in North America, Western Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region had a biometric authentication system embedded. Last year, the global market for biometric systems was estimated at around $43 billion, and it is projected to double in value and size by 2027.

Since biometrics is the measurement and analysis of unique physical characteristics of individuals, biometric technology is used for identifying individuals and for access control. In 2022, the market for digital identity solutions – in which biometric technology is a key component – was estimated at $28 billion, and it is expected to exceed $70 billion by 2027.

Examples of biometric technologies include facial recognition, voice recognition, iris recognition, heartbeat recognition, automated fingerprint identification, and signature verification. Automated fingerprint identification systems recorded a market revenue of nearly $9 billion last year. Financial services are one of the most important industries when it comes to the use of biometrics. In 2021, more than 90 percent of respondents from Saudi Arabia and India were willing to authenticate using a fingerprint instead of a PIN when making in-store payments due to the advantages of this technology, namely its speed and security.

European System

Despite a smaller market compared to fingerprint and voice recognition, facial recognition is expected to be the biometric segment with the highest growth in usage in the coming years. Therefore, it is not surprising that many are concerned about privacy, as well as the overall lack of trust that hinders even faster development and growth of the market, which may not be so bad. The use of biometrics for recognizing digital identity (digital ID) is the most important development currently shaping the industry. This is precisely the digital ID that the European Union aims to introduce. However, the main concern regarding biometric technologies is related to databases that could enable mass surveillance and cause issues with misidentification.

The European Entry/Exit System (EES) was supposed to be launched in May 2023, but its implementation has been postponed to 2024. It is an automated IT system for registering travelers from third countries. Biometric data will be registered each time they cross the external border of the Union.

– The system will register the person’s name, type of travel document, biometric data, namely fingerprints and captured facial images, as well as the date and place of entry and exit, while fully respecting their fundamental rights and protecting their personal data – states the European Commission’s website.

Experts believe that the EES system could cost around half a billion euros within the first few years, but they emphasize that the potential cost for the Union’s ethical authority is much higher. A possible issue is also the decision of the European Parliament, which last year adopted a resolution calling for a ban on certain forms of facial recognition technology usage and specifically warned that ‘the use and collection of any biometric data for remote identification, for example, through facial recognition in public places, as well as on automated border control crossings used for border checks at airports, may pose specific risks to fundamental human rights.’

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Recently, the European Commission, in its proposal for a new regulation on artificial intelligence (AI), the Artificial Intelligence Act, marked facial recognition and other biometric AI tools as use cases with ‘high risk’. Several drafts even call for a ban on the use of remote biometric identification systems in real-time in publicly accessible spaces for law enforcement purposes. Although this law is part of a broader legislative framework at the EU level designed to preserve fundamental rights related to digital technologies, the treatment of biometrics under this law remains one of the primary contentious points that halts its final draft. This hints at a looming crisis in the European Union regarding facial recognition and other biometric identification tools. The EES is the best example of this internal conflict.

Digital Africa

It may be hard to believe, but Africa is a continent that has submitted to biometric technology in the last two to three years. The World Bank, for example, has ‘poured’ more than $1.2 billion into digital personal identification projects in as many as 45 African countries. According to the ID4Africa association, almost every African country with a stable government now has active biometric ID card programs, and such ID cards in South Africa and Nigeria are among the most developed. Due to the desire of African governments to build biometric identification systems, Africa is a mature and eager market for providers of biometric identification documents, as well as a good testing ground for this technology. However, data protection experts are concerned that gaps in the African legal and regulatory system expose citizens to potential privacy abuses. Activists also argue that African digital ID programs could be used to facilitate the deportation of migrants and refugees from Europe.

Biometric ID for Everyone

Former World Bank member Joseph Atick, now the executive chairman of ID4Africa, an association that brings together ID companies, African governments, and donors, stated that the digital divide is growing and that Africa must digitalize to ‘not be invisible’. He emphasized that digital ID cards enable citizens to access government services, free movement, and transactions. However, many wonder if they need to be biometric, that is, if they must contain biological characteristics such as fingerprints, iris scans, facial features, or voice cadence – to be effective. Atick insists that biometrics offer the necessary ‘uniqueness’ and that it is needed. However, watchdogs like Privacy International (PI) argue that centralized databases threaten privacy and are unnecessary if the goal is for citizens to access public services. Last month, it published a report expressing concern that digital ID card projects in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire funded by the EU Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), an EU financial aid instrument, deviate from international data protection standards.

It has also been warned that these systems could be used to facilitate deportations from the European Union. The EUTF for Africa was established in 2015, at the height of the so-called migrant crisis, to ensure ‘stability and address the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa’. Political advisor to Oxfam Raphael Shilhav claims that the EUTF mixes development goals, which are in the interest of recipient countries, with migration management goals, which are in the interest of the EU. Regarding the EUTF projects in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, Shilhav states that, regardless of whether biometric data is shared with EU authorities for the deportation of migrants from Europe, the EU would be willing to fund projects only if the recipient country agreed to accept returnees.

There are many questions and challenges related to the use of biometrics, especially ethical ones, that will need to be addressed for the technology to continue to develop.

Some Problems

Many human rights advocates have noted that some biometric authentication methods are alarmingly biased, which is a significant ethical issue. Namely, since facial recognition technology relies on existing datasets, which may contain racism or gender bias, the technology mirrors these problems. There have already been a disturbing number of incidents where scanners failed to recognize Asians or African Americans or misidentified them. In the United Kingdom, for example, Uber introduced facial recognition software to identify its drivers. All of its drivers must already undergo security and verification processes, but Transport for London (TFL) revoked those driving licenses due to negative recognition results only in the case of Black drivers. Security watchdogs are seriously concerned about the vast amounts of data collected without consent by government agencies and public institutions as part of the biometric authentication process.

Many argue that individuals should retain the right to privacy of their photographs and should not have to consent to providing facial features and other biometric data for storage in government databases. Security is another aspect of concern. Vast repositories of biometric information are also attractive hacking targets. And if they can access those repositories, it is also clear that they can easily steal someone’s identity and do whatever they want with it.

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