Technology that identifies you by something you are is showing up in e-passports, laptop login screens, smart firearms and even consumer products, like the iPhone. Current generation systems generally use static biometric features, such as fingerprints, iris scans and facial recognition, either measured directly or mediated through a device, such as a smartphone.
We are on the cusp of a revolution that will usher in dynamic (e.g. gestural, heart rhythm, gait analysis) and chemical (e.g. DNA, body odor, perspiration) biometrics. There will also be hybrid technologies, such as the Nokias vibrating magnetic ink tattoos (US Patent 8, 766, 784) and the password pill from Proteus Digital Health. Biometrics will also play an increasingly significant role as one of the factors in multi-factor authentication. The author created one of the first typing rhythm recognition algorithms and one of the earliest DNA sequencing machines in the 1980s and has a long term perspective on this subject.Like all new technologies, advances in biometrics will bring new advantages and also new risks. This presentation surveys cutting edge biometric technologies and provides a framework for evaluating them from the perspectives of security, reliability, privacy, potential for abuse and perceived creepiness. Learn what is coming down the biometrics road now, so you'll be ready to intelligently choose and implement these technologies as they come on the market in the near future.
Dr. Tom Keenan (@drfuture) wrote his first machine and assembler language programs in 1965 and by 1972 was working as a systems programmer on the KRONOS and MULTICS operating systems. This led to a long career as a computer science professor, media commentator and writer about the human side of technology. He helped design one of the first automated DNA sequencing machines, as well as a system for personal identification based on typing rhythm. He has a Masters in Engineering and a Doctorate from Columbia University and has held a number of credentials, including CISSP and Fellow of the Canadian Information Processing Society and Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute. An award-winning journalist, he co-authored the 1984 CBC Radio IDEAS series 'Crimes of the Future' and wrote the 2014 best-selling book 'Technocreep' (Greystone Books, Vancouver; OR Books, New York).