Technology take-off

New biometrics standards to protect UK business and consumers could be published as early as May 2005.

The British Standards division of BSI is producing new international standards for the technology, which is set to be used in all new passports and the UK Government’s proposed ID Cards.

Seven international standards for finger, iris and facial formats could be published next year.

Whilst fighting terrorism has been the catalyst behind these standards, BSI wants to protect both individuals against ID inaccuracies and UK commercial interests in the biometrics industry.

The US asked the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) to create a new international committee to focus on the rapid yet comprehensive development and approval of formal international standards.

The first meeting of the international committee was held in Florida, and was attended by delegates from the new technical committee from Britain. Since then, the UK delegation has helped to keep the international work on track. Britain is the second largest contingent attending the meetings after the Americans.

What design?

The BSI delegation is working with industry specialists around the world to collate data and negotiate a global consensus on how this technology should be designed to interface with fingerprints, faces, voices and eyes.

Worried by the threat of further terrorist attacks and in the wake of new laws, the US Federal Government has announced that all visitors would be fingerprinted and photographed on entry into the country.

The British Government will benefit from maintaining a biometrics knowledge base, since UK scientists had helped lead the way with the development of this technology

The US introduced legislation that called for the use of biometrics as a counter to international terrorism (the US Visa Waiver programme and the introduction of biometric-enabled passport books). Because the legislation stipulated using ISO standards, these are now being created rapidly.

The technology consists of a reader or scanning device, software that converts the scanned data into digital form, and a database that stores the biometric data for later comparison. The challenge is to create an infrastructure of biometric systems that not only protect societies from attack but also individuals from an invasion of privacy.

If the technology is to be successfully deployed across any jurisdiction, the internationally recognised standards are crucial.

Even before 9/11, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was trying to find a way to improve immigration control by processing passengers quickly, using biometrics.

Growing demand

Mike Low, the director of British Standards, comments: “Whilst political pressure is certainly expediting this process, there is also growing demand from the biometric and IT industry itself to develop ISO standards for this important and increasingly used technology.

“The aim of these standards is to make the implementation and application of biometric technology and the associated data easier for industry. The specifiers of such equipment will have a clear standard to use and the manufacturers will be able to utilise the specifications to trade with greater confidence.

“It is essential to understand the reliability of a particular biometric system and to know how one can trust the claims made by the suppliers. Ultimately, this is standardisation creating business opportunities for UK industry.”

The creation of international standards is expected to be of substantial advantage to UK companies, given the strong technical base and position of international leadership

The British Government will benefit from maintaining a biometrics knowledge base, since UK scientists had helped lead the way with the development of this technology. For example, biometric applications are being proposed for immigration/asylum and border crossings.

Developing a technology to international standards also increases the potential market for a supplier. Not only will their products be suitable for the home market but they will be acceptable for the global market.

Advantage to UK

The creation of international standards is expected to be of substantial advantage to UK companies, given the strong technical base and position of international leadership that they have established.

With all biometrics a good image means having a better chance of successfully comparing that data in the future. There are numerous ways of taking and recording an image, but people have been rushing the initial template. The British committee believes in spending more time to develop a better quality image.

In 2005 several new biometric ISO standards will be published, covering biometric data interchange formats for iris, facial and fingerprint data. These will be followed by standards on signature, profiles for specialised workers, testing and reporting, and a technical report covering cross-jurisdictional and societal aspects. A further standard on biometric vocabulary should also be finalised.

The initial potential market for these standards may be limited to governments and particularly suppliers of border management and passport solutions.

But commercial interest in biometrics will increase as ISO Standards are developed, and compliance with them is increasingly stipulated by commercial customers.

BSI is looking at the sociological issues – biometrics affects privacy and that is an emotive issue … but used properly, it can protect privacy.