Biometrics

Biometric Systems are processes, tools, and technologies which measure specific characteristics of human physiology or behaviour for the purposes of recognising or establishing the identity of specific, identifiable individual human beings.

Put more simply, they are generally digital systems which measure traits or characteristics such as movement, fingerprint or iris pattern which are unique. They do this to distinct individuals using hardware and software, and then capture this uniqueness in data structures - called templates which are stored and processed to make decisions about humans.

Templates, once produced, can be used to recognise that human again by comparing a subsequent sample or probe of the relevant trait with the stored template. Or if a previously stored template exists, the two can be cross-referenced and compared for likeness.

A biometric system will rarely exist in isolation. Typically it will be integrated into a broader IT Solution, perhaps collecting related data or linking a biometric record to an intervention or distribution activity - our treatment here of ‘storage’ suggesting already how a database of templates may be stored and used to identify humans.