Applications — The Story
so Far
The
bulk of biometric applications to date are probably in areas that
you will never hear of. This is because there are a very large
number of relatively small security related applications undertaken
by specialist security systems suppliers. These systems account
for the majority of unit sales as far as the device manufacturers
are concerned and are often supplied via a third party distribution
chain.
The applications that you will here of are those in the public domain. These
include:
Prison visitor systems, where visitors
to inmates are subject to verification procedures in
order that identities may not be swapped during the
visit - a familiar occurrence among prisons worldwide.
Drivers licences, whereby some authorities
found that drivers (particularly truck drivers) had
multiple licences or swapped licences among themselves
when crossing state lines or national borders.
Canteen administration, particularly
on campus where subsidised meals are available to bona
fide students, a system which was being heavily abused
in some areas.
Benefit payment systems. In America,
several states have saved significant amounts of money
by implementing biometric verification procedures.
Not surprisingly, the numbers of individuals claiming
benefit has dropped dramatically in the process, validating
the systems as an effective deterrent against multiple
claims.
Border control. A notable example
being the INSPASS trial in America where travellers
were issued with a card enabling them to use the strategically
based biometric terminals and bypass long immigration
queues. There are other pilot systems operating in
S.E. Asia and elsewhere in this respect.
 Voting systems,
where eligible politicians are required to verify their
identity during a voting process. This is intended
to stop ‘proxy’ voting
where the vote may not go as expected.
Junior school areas where (mostly
in America) problems had been experienced with children
being either molested or kidnapped.
In addition there are numerous applications in gold and diamond mines, bullion
warehouses and bank vaults, as indeed you might expect, as well as the more commonplace
physical access control applications in industry.
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