Biometrics to remain ‘niche tech'

“Government applications, such as national and international ID cards and passports, have done much to raise the profile of biometrics in recent months, even though these applications are unlikely to be widespread for another five to 10 years,” Gartner says.

Privacy concerns

“Many citizens are worried about the potential for invasions of privacy and about the use of databases to store sensitive personal information. A bigger concern, though, should be the security of registration and issuance processes.”

Gartner states that widespread adoption of biometric systems to verify identity is severely hindered by problems such as high costs, variable accuracy and reliability, and a lack of defined technical standards.

“As a result, organisations assessing authentication technologies for network access tend to choose tried-and-tested, cost-effective products like one-time password tokens and consider biometrics only fleetingly.”

Gartner has suggested that organisations considering the implementation of biometric technology to verify users' identities should use it in conjunction with other authentication methods, such as smart cards.

The research house also says organisations opting to use biometrics together with smart cards – or other authentication methods – should expect high costs and a complex integration task.

“The security of an inconvenient biometric system is likely to be compromised. An organisation should ensure its chosen biometric technology makes peoples' lives easier. Organisations should assess other authentication technologies, such as smart cards and one-time password tokens, if the drawbacks of biometric systems appear too great.”