Abstract
This chapter starts off by discussing. Biometric technologies as access and identification processes. Biometric technologies confirm a person’s identity by scanning physical characteristics such as a fingerprint, voice, eye movement, and facial recognition. We discuss how a typical biometric system operates in two distinct stages: the enrollment stage and the authentication stage. We also discuss biometric technologies traits used to confirm a person’s identity that include fingerprint, voice, eye movement, facial recognition, and a few others. Finally in discussing the ethical issues faced in the use of biometric technologies, we pose the following questions to the reader:
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For respect for human dignity—In substituting names with codes, might biometrics degrade the human condition to that of animals or things?
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For “informatization” of the human body—Is there any risk linked to the digitalization of human attributes and their distribution across the global information network?
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For data protection and Privacy—What level of protection do biometric data deserve? Is there any risk related to the possible linkage of several biometric databases?
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For respect for intimacy and body integrity—Is there any risk that biometrics may be felt as heavily intrusive technologies?
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Biases based on human attributes:
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Can ethnicity be derived from biometric data?
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Do different ethnic types find it more or less difficult to use a particular biometric technique?
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Is there any risk of discrimination based on ethnicity?
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Is there any risk of categorization through profiling groups of people?
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The answers to these questions inform our discussion.
References
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Mordini E, Carlo C (2007) Ethical and social implications of biometric identification technology. Ann Ist Super Sanità 43(1):5–11
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Kizza, J.M. (2013). Biometric Technologies and Ethics. In: Ethical and Social Issues in the Information Age. Texts in Computer Science. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4990-3_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4990-3_16
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