BioSecure: white paper for research in biometrics beyond BioSecure

There is an increasing need for application and solution oriented integration of existing and new biometric technologies. Besides the known techniques like face recognition, iris recognition, fingerprint and hand geometry, new methods are researched upon, like DNA, which make use of an individual's physical characteristics, for authentication of individuals. Recent research shows that multimodal biometrics and fusion will improve the robustness of the applications as well as the transparent operation (without any specific action of the user) of biometrics. In addition, there is a shift from more fundamental (research) questions to operational issues, in particular privacy and data protection. Of major concern are interoperability and robustness. Biometric technologies are being increasingly deployed in practical applications but are currently mainly driven by government-led initiatives from border control applications to national ID programmes, with increasing social and legal impact on everyday life. However, biometrics offer wider opportunities and their application as enabling technology for many novel applications or, in combination with modem identity management systems, can support new developments. As a consequence of new applications and user scenarios, new research challenges will arise. In many existing and new applications, such as e-commerce, e-banking and health monitoring, many urgent questions remain open. From an application perspective, such questions include: Are biometric technologies yet ready to support citizens in handling their digital identity? What impact can be expected from mandatory applications on the usage of various biometric modalities in everyday and ubiquitous applications? How can biometrics be used in reliable, user-friendly, and widely acceptable control mechanisms for checking the digital and real identity of an individual? How can biometrics be combined with more traditional approaches (such as PIN codes, passwords or tokens) for person authentication? How can biometrics engender trust in digital identities? What metrics are relevant for security and "convenience-oriented" applications to guarantee biometric applicability in a large variety of business models capable of dynamic and seamless end-to-end integration of resources across a multiplicity of devices, networks, providers and service domains? This report is the output of a consultation process of various major stakeholders in the biometric community to identify the future biometrical research issues, an activity which employed not only researchers but representatives from the entire biometrical community, consisting of governments, industry, citizens and academia. It is one of the main efforts of the BioSecure Network of Excellence to define the agenda for future biometrical research, including systems and applications scenarios.