With its widespread application worldwide, biometric technology is fast becoming one of the most popular ways of authentication. While it has many advantages, new concerns regarding biometric technology may make it a gateway to privacy intrusions. Given the increase in cybersecurity threats, the future of biometric data protection depends on how individuals and businesses handle biometric data safely and efficiently.
As technological advancements continue to reshape the security landscape, biometric authentication is a promising solution. In this blog, we will examine the ambiguity of biometric security and how it can serve as a privacy protector and a warning sign for intrusion. This article aims to shed light on the future trajectory of security and privacy by analyzing biometric technology’s potential applications and ethical implications.
But first, let’s understand what biometric technology is and how it works.
Understanding Biometric Technology and How It Works
Using distinct physical or behavioral traits like speech patterns, face structures, fingerprints, or iris scans, biometric technology verifies and authenticates people’s identities.
Two main reasons biometric technologies are quickly integrated into many different industries. These are —
- Biometric authentication techniques provide more security than traditional methods such as passwords or ID cards because physical and behavioral characteristics are harder to counterfeit.
- Biometric technologies also offer convenience, eliminating the need to carry extra identification or memorize complex passwords. This, in turn, helps companies save time and money by facilitating rapid access and authentication.
In short, these factors contribute hugely to the bright future of biometrics, especially in data security and privacy. So, how does biometric protection work?
Biometric protection works by capturing an individual’s unique biological or behavioral characteristics, such as fingerprints, facial features, or iris patterns, and converting them into digital templates. During authentication, the captured biometric data is compared against stored templates to verify the individual’s identity. If the biometric traits match those on file, access is granted. This process relies on the principle that biometric features are highly distinctive and difficult to replicate, providing a secure and convenient authentication method for various applications, including access control, identity verification, and transaction authorization.
Now that you have a comprehensive understanding of biometric authentication let’s understand its potential applications in data security.
Potential Applications of Biometric Technology in Data Security
Here are some of the most common use cases of biometric technologies in data security:
Access Controls
Biometric authentication can manage access to digital and physical locations, including computers, mobile devices, buildings, and rooms. Enforcing biometric verification can help businesses guarantee that only authorized persons can access critical areas or data.
Data Encryption
Biometric technology makes encrypt sensitive data saved on devices or cloud-based platforms easy.
Organizations can ensure that only authorized individuals can decode and view sensitive information by granting access to encrypted data streams using biometric authentication.
Identity Verification
Biometric authentication can confirm an individual’s identification during online purchases, account logins, or identity verification procedures. This improves the security of digital platforms and services by thwarting fraud, identity theft, and unauthorized access.
Endpoint Security
Endpoints like computers, tablets, and cell phones can be secured with biometric authentication, preventing unauthorized users from accessing private information or programs.
This is beneficial for safeguarding devices against loss, theft, and unauthorized use—particularly in settings where BYOD (bring your device) is practiced.
Biometric technologies can also be used to prevent account takeovers, multi-accounting, promo abuse fraud, and arbitrage betting.
Thus, biometrics can potentially have applications in a wide range of industries. However, as with any new technology, questions arise regarding the ethical implications of implementing biometric verifications, especially regarding data ownership and security.
In the next section, we will highlight some of the ethical implications associated with biometrics usage for data privacy.
Ethical Implications of Biometric Technology in Data Privacy
The widespread adoption of biometric technologies can raise the following ethical implications:
Informed Consent
When biometric data is collected and stored informed consent may be questioned. People could give their biometric data without fully understanding the consequences or how it will be used, resulting in privacy violations.
Surveillance and Privacy
The ability of biometric surveillance technologies to track people’s whereabouts and behaviors can raise concerns regarding civil liberties and privacy. Ongoing biometric data monitoring may violate people’s right to privacy and autonomy, particularly in public areas.
Data Security
Biometric data is highly sensitive and irreplaceable, making it a lucrative target for hackers and cybercriminals. Data breaches involving biometric information can have severe consequences for individuals, including identity theft and unauthorized access to personal information.
Discrimination
Biometric systems may exhibit biases or inaccuracies, leading to discriminatory outcomes. If certain demographic groups are disproportionately affected by false positives or negatives, it can result in unfair treatment and exacerbate existing inequalities.
Function Creep
Biometric data collected for one purpose may be repurposed for other uses without individuals’ consent. This “function creep” raises concerns about mission creep, where initially benign applications of biometric technology evolve into more intrusive forms of surveillance.
Data Ownership and Control
Once institutions or governments gather biometric information, individuals may no longer have control over it. Without explicit laws and protections, people could not view, update, or remove their biometric data, raising questions about data ownership and control.
Overall, the ethical ramifications of biometric technology for data privacy emphasize the necessity of strict laws, openness, and accountability frameworks to guarantee that biometric systems protect people’s rights, adhere to privacy ideals, and minimize hazards and damages.
Last but not least, let’s delve into the trends and advancements that stand to redefine the future of biometric verification.
Future of Biometrics: Trends and Advancements
With a new technological era approaching, biometrics is also undergoing transformative changes. New modalities are being found, and conventional verification methods are constantly improving.
Here are some of the most popular trends developing in biometrics in today’s environment:
Multimodal Authentication
As technology develops, the use of various biometric modalities for authentication is becoming increasingly common. This can entail combining facial recognition with voice, fingerprint, or liveness checks to bolster security measures.
Multimodal authentication is a handy solution because users can select the preferred modality based on the circumstance. For instance, IRIS recognition would still function even if face recognition was not feasible due to mask wear in public.
Similarly, multi-factor authentication—which combines a password or PIN with biometric verification—is growing in popularity. If one modality fails, this provides an additional degree of security. If technology develops further, we might see even more combinations of biometric modalities being used for authentication.
Continuous Authentication
As biometrics are used increasingly frequently, there is a trend away from one-time verification and towards continuous authentication. This means that biometric data is continuously examined and monitored to ensure the user stays authorized, instead of done once at login. This might help prevent illegal access when an individual’s behavior or attributes vary over time.
For example, a continuous authentication system would detect and adjust based on changes in an individual’s voice, such as a growing beard or an aged voice becoming deeper. Financial transactions are yet another scenario where continuous authentication finds application. For online payments, for example, biometric data can be continuously tracked to ensure that the authorized user is still completing the transaction rather than confirming identity during login.
Behavioral Biometric Authentication
Another emerging area in biometrics is the application of behavioral biometric authentication. To confirm someone’s identity, this entails monitoring their behavior patterns, such as their typing cadence or mouse movements.
This kind of biometric verification has the advantage of potentially being harder to forge than physical characteristics like fingerprint or iris scans. Additionally, authentication is easier and more discrete because the user does not have to physically connect with a device.
Furthermore, behavioral biometric data can be continuously gathered and examined, adding another protection to ongoing authentication. This guards against physical spoofing and makes it harder for imposters to mimic someone’s behavior continuously.
Potential of AI and ML Technologies in Improving Accuracy and User Experience
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies have enormous promise for improving biometrics in the future. They can considerably raise biometric system accuracy and lower false match rates.
More sophisticated algorithms offer more dependable identification and authentication since they can better recognize and adjust to the minute variations in an individual’s biometric data over time. Additionally, by identifying and neutralizing threats before they can do any damage, ML and AI can strengthen the security of biometric systems. Expediting and simplifying the authentication process with these technologies can help improve the user experience. Therefore, merging AI and ML seems promising for the future of biometrics.
Security and Compliance with Akitra!
Establishing trust is a crucial competitive differentiator when courting new SaaS businesses in today’s era of data breaches and compromised privacy. Customers and partners want assurances that their organizations are doing everything possible to prevent disclosing sensitive data and putting them at risk, and compliance certification fills that need.
Akitra offers an industry-leading, AI-powered Compliance Automation platform for SaaS companies. With its expertise in technology solutions and compliance, Akitra is well-positioned to assist companies in navigating the complexities of compliance and assisting in using automation tools to streamline compliance processes and put in best practices for cybersecurity posture. In addition, Akitra can provide invaluable guidance in implementing the necessary frameworks and processes that prevent malicious agents from manipulating sensitive information using new and advanced technologies like biometrics.
Using automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring, together with a full suite of customizable policies and controls as a compliance foundation, our compliance automation platform and services help our customers become compliance-ready for security standards, such as SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 9001, ISO 13485, ISO 42001, NIST CSF, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, NIST 800-218, NIST AI RMF, FedRAMP, CCPA, CMMC, SOX ITGC, and more such as CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark, Australian ISM and Essential Eight etc. In addition, companies can use Akitra’s Risk Management product for overall risk management using quantitative methodologies such as Factorial Analysis of Information Risks (FAIR) and qualitative methods, including NIST-based for your company, Vulnerability Assessment and Pen Testing services, Third Party Vendor Risk Management, Trust Center, and AI-based Automated Questionnaire Response product to streamline and expedite security questionnaire response processes, delivering huge cost savings. Our compliance and security experts provide customized guidance to navigate the end-to-end compliance process confidently. Last but not least, we have also developed a resource hub called Akitra Academy which provides easy-to-learn short video courses on security, compliance, and related topics of immense significance for today’s fast-growing companies.
The benefits of our solution include enormous savings in time, human resources, and cost savings, including discounted audit fees with our audit firm partners. Customers can achieve compliance certification fast and cost-effectively, stay continuously compliant as they grow, and become certified under additional frameworks from our single compliance automation platform.
Build customer trust. Choose Akitra TODAY!
To book your FREE DEMO, contact us right here.
