Jean Fang, Authentication Product Manager and Joël Di Manno, Authentication and Biometrics Laboratory Service Line Manager at Fime
From a person’s face to their iris, voice or fingerprint, biometric solutions are giving us new ways to authenticate ourselves when using a device or making a payment. Research suggests that the global facial recognition market alone will be worth up to $13.87 billion by 2028, with other modes of authentication following a similar growth pattern.
The trend towards biometric authentication has been further accelerated by the global pandemic. Hygienic touchless identification solutions have become critically important. And, with customers already familiar with using biometric solutions on their phones, the growth of this industry only looks to continue. In this blog we will evaluate this growth and discuss some of the potential opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
Addressing fragmentation
Biometric authentication is an innovative and rapidly evolving technology. However, the speed with which it has developed brings with it unique challenges. The technology operates within a largely non-standardized ecosystem, meaning that it is fragmented on many fundamental issues. Little regulates how manufacturers and developers create and implement solutions.
The fragmentation that currently exists means that developers and manufacturers face three main challenges:
- Increasing interoperability and adaptability.
- Looking for a standardized certification process.
- Formulating uniform benchmarking practices to allow developers to compare key performance metrics.
Addressing these three concerns will help create a simpler, more standardized biometrics ecosystem, allowing innovations to reach the market quicker and cheaper.
Security vs UX
The most notable emerging use cases for biometrics are payment authentication, access control and government administrative projects. All three require access to extremely personal data, and therefore it is essential for them to have very strong security.
Perhaps the major selling point of biometric solutions is their ability to provide the necessary security while enhancing the user experience (UX). However, overly-stringent security can negatively impact the UX. Therefore, there must be a trade-off between the two.
The best way to understand this balance is by comparing the False Acceptance Rate (FAR) with the False Rejection Rate (FRR). A low FAR gives a good indication that a solution is secure, as it only accepts the right user. Meanwhile, a high FRR provides a very high level of security, but creates friction – and potentially damages the UX – as it prevents genuine individuals from authenticating. Striking the right balance between these two is crucial to maintaining high security standards without creating a poor UX.
Multiple modalities for multiple solutions
The adaptability of biometric solutions means that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) must constantly evaluate the available solutions and determine which is the best for their device. OEMs must develop a clear strategy to determine which biometric modality is best suited, factoring in cost, UX, speed and security.
However, there are also situations where device manufacturers may want to utilize multiple modalities. This can benefit both the UX and security of their solution, as it can address numerous concerns:
- It can account for environmental concerns. For example, if a user is wearing gloves due to cold weather, making fingerprint scanning impossible, authentication can be achieved another way.
- For high-risk authentications, multiple modalities can be utilized at once to achieve heightened security.
- It also allows for adaptability regarding any future changes to the industry or regulatory requirements.
Determining which modalities will best serve a device and its deployment is one of the major challenges OEMs and developers face. The current lack of standardization only further complicates this. However, as the field grows and becomes less fragmented, the multimodality of biometric solutions will facilitate innovation and security for years to come.
Just the beginning
Biometrics have become a fixture of consumers’ everyday lives, but the huge successes seen in mobile technologies have not yet translated to other sectors. Innovations continue to push the boundaries of how we use biometrics, as they are rolled out in workplaces, homes and transportation. To reach widespread adoption, companies need to provide customers with assurance that their products are secure. Standardized testing and certification lay the foundations for this.
Biometric technologies continue to evolve daily, which means that the regulations and requirements that govern them need to do likewise. Standardizing the entire ecosystem would allow developers and OEMs to regularly test their products against uniform benchmarks, ensuring they are secure while keeping costs down and launching quicker.
