Last week our CEO, Steven Hope, joined leading privacy, identity and security experts from across Europe to present at Building Trust on a Hyperconnected World, an event hosted by EEMA and OASIS at the EMEA headquarters of CA Technologies, Ditton Manor.
In the session entitled ‘Biometrics: the time has come?’, Steven was joined by Professor JJ Nietfield from the University Medical Centre in Utrecht, the Chair of the OASIS IBOPS Technical Committee, Abbie Barbir and Executive Director of EEMA, David Goodman. During his presentation and the panel debate which followed, Steven shared his perspective on the hype surrounding the use of biometrics. He explained that whilst the technology does have the potential to have a place in the identification and authentication process, there is a reason why it has not yet taken off in the way many experts had expected.
Steven argued that the proliferation of biometrics on the latest smart devices is focused on delivering a convenient user experience, and is not about delivering tight security, despite the worrying efforts of some large organisations (especially those in the banking sector) trying to find ways to exploit the likes of TouchID for authentication purposes. He also observed how the word ‘biometrics’ has wrongly become synonymous with security, and explained how smart devices operating consumer-grade biometric sensors, could not and should not be expected to deliver the accuracy and reliability of high-end biometrics equipment used in the commercial world.