Facing up to a biometric future
FORGET fingerprint scanners, within the next five years, voice prints and facial recognition will be standard security features on millions of new mobile devices.
It turns out that fingerprint scanners are just the tip of the biometric revolution that’s coming to the next generation of mobile devices.
As security becomes an even more crucial aspect of the digital devices that are increasingly governing every aspect of our lives, biometrics — i.e., using an element of a person that is unique as a security protocol — is set to become a standard feature.
According to Juniper Research, by 2021 some 600 million mobile devices, from wearables to phablets will come with biometric security other than fingerprint recognition as standard.
And in terms of ease of implementation and security, facial recognition and voice print analysis are currently shaping up as the most popular methods.
This is because, according to Juniper, neither requires flagship levels of hardware in order to work well.
And while many will embrace facial recognition as it’s essentially taking a selfie in order to access apps or notifications, companies are still going to have to go to great lengths to prove that such methods are sufficiently robust.
“While biometrics offer an increased amount of security and convenience, they need higher levels of protection,” said research author James Moar. “Establishing best practices for storage and transmission of newer biometrics will be key to ensuring both consumer control over and the security of these most personal data.” — Relaxnews