South Africa is among the world's top 10 users of biometrics. So what is biometric technology all about and what are its applications?
The South African government's use of fingerprint identification and verification technology is paving the way for biometrics in everyday use. However, despite the rate at which solutions are being adopted in public and private sectors, a good deal of confusion still surrounds the subject.
Biometrics can be defined as the science of measuring our unique physical characteristics. There are a number of biometric technologies in use, the commonest being fingerprint, face and iris recognition systems.
The traditional operating model for access systems was a combination of something you have, such as an access card, and something you know, such as a password or PIN. Biometrics alters this model by using someone's unique physical attributes - something you are. The benefits of biometrics over other technologies include the fact that a biometric ID cannot be lost, stolen or forgotten, and it cannot be easily shared. Biometrics replace passwords and identifiers such as access cards, consequently saving the cost of new, lost or damaged cards, and administering passwords.
In SA, biometric technology is widely used in a number of ways - the most significant being Civil ID applications; the Integrated Justice System (IJS); and access control. Civil ID applications include the Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS); payment of pension and social grants by the Department of Social Development; an immigrant identification system for Home Affairs; the new card-format driver's licence; and the Citizen's Post Office and Post Bank of the South African Post Office.
The HANIS system is the foundation for most Civil ID applications and a number of major initiatives are dependent on its rollout. Finalisation of HANIS is drawing closer: the Back Record Conversion (BRC) of Home Affairs' card-based fingerprint database is due to be completed later this year; and the release of a tender for the system's smart ID card component is imminent. Once these two elements are in place implementation of the HANIS Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) will follow. Other large-scale Civil ID applications on the horizon for South Africa include the introduction of a biometric-based passport, and biometric systems to identify refugees.
Fingerprint and palm-print biometrics have been used for a number of years in the South African Police Services (SAPS), and this technology is being deployed throughout the Integrated Justice System (IJS). The IJS includes SAPS; the Department of Correctional Services (DCS); the Department of Justice (DoJ); and Social Services. In the DCS environment in particular, biometrics are already used for prisoner identification, reducing the public threat of prisoners falsifying their identities to escape trial. The IJS project will use biometrics for identity-verification throughout the court process and introduction of the SAPS Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) aligns it with international organisations such as Interpol and the FBI.
In the private sector, biometric technology is mainly used for access control - often linked to Time and Attendance systems. Fingerprint recognition offers more than a fast, reliable and secure means of controlling access: it eliminates unauthorised access and fraudulent time clocking. As mentioned above, it also removes the costs associated with systems based on cards and passwords.
In addition to access and T&A, the use of biometrics in SA is also accelerating in the field of logical access control, encompassing access to personal computers, networks, applications and on-line systems. A range of such applications already exist, including single-sign-on (SSO) for corporate computer networks; authentication for Internet banking; encryption and decryption of files and folders; and other password-replacement applications. SA's demand for biometrics linked to other applications is also growing - for example, integrated biometrics solutions are being used in job costing; canteen management; vending services; student ID and facilities-usage systems; vehicle management and logistics.
The ability of biometric technology to deliver accurate and reliable ID and authentication solutions is revolutionising South Africa's everyday economies. The integration of biometrics into today's technology is not on tomorrow's horizon... It is already here.
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