An HS Daily Wire conversation with Walter Hamilton of the International Biometrics Industry Association (IBIA)

not going to be matched against one record called Jasper, whereupon they either match or they don’t. They are going to be matched against tens of millions of fingerprint records.

The chances of an error, such as a false match, are statistically much higher than in the one-to-one verification matching application. But, here, I’ve actually submitted multiple biometrics. Let’s say there are three people out of 45 million who have similar fingerprints to those of this person. These are called match candidates. But only one of them has the same iris pattern as our Jasper. Now we have a positive match, and the soldier in the war zone can take appropriate action based on the record of this individual.

So, there are legitimate applications where multiple biometrics can be critical, but probably not in the case of unlocking a door or logging onto a computer network. Needless to say, if every one of the 10,000 computers of interest to the bank already had a built-in microphone, then speaker verification might be the best choice of technology for this application. Why? Because it essentially requires only a software investment and no additional hardware sensor.

And there are difficult environments where some biometrics are challenged in terms of acquiring a good quality biometric sample - a battlefield, perhaps. In addition, not all subjects are necessarily cooperative about having their biometrics collected. Perhaps the subject’s hands are dirty or the skin is very dry. Also, in outdoor locations, the lighting can’t be controlled. In order to survive in outdoor environments, the biometric collection device may need to be highly ruggedized and portable.

DW: How advanced is the development of biometric technology in various parts of the world? Is any interesting or worrisome work under way?

Hamilton: The scientific leaders in the field of biometric technology are in the U.S., Japan, South Korea, France, and Germany. There are pockets elsewhere. There is some biometric innovation in Israel and in Russia. China is doing some work in the field. I would say the Western nations, the more developed countries, would be considered the leaders.

That doesn’t meant that there’s a huge technological barrier to any society’s developing its own variation on biometric technology. How a rogue nation might use biometrics in a harmful or oppressive way is a subject of some speculation. In theory, a nation could use biometrics to control its population by requiring a biometric sample for routine