[clug] Biometrics and Linux

[Kim Holburn]

At 1:45 AM +1100 2004/02/23, Alex Satrapa wrote:
>At 8:45 PM +1000 2004/02/22, Andrew Pollock wrote:
>>Hi,
>>
>>I'm looking at developing an application, and I'd like use fingerprints for
>>authenticating users of the application.

New Scientist has had some interesting articles about fingerprint identification.

If you have a New Scientist subscription you can use:
http://archive.newscientist.com/secure/article/article.jsp?rp=1&id=mg18124321.100
Forensic evidence stands accused
New Scientist  vol 181  issue 2432  - 31 January 2004,  page 6

Despite a century of use, doubts remain over the reliability of using fingerprints to convict suspects

THE UK has been troubled this past week by revelations that flawed scientific advice given to courts may have led to the wrongful conviction of hundreds of men and women accused of harming their children.

More than 250 infant death convictions, and potentially thousands of child abuse cases, are to be reviewed after judges decided that the cases may have relied too heavily on controversial and conflicting medical theories.

However, a New Scientist investigation has discovered that other, potentially flawed, forensic assumptions are still routinely being accepted by the courts.

One such assumption is the supposed infallibility of fingerprint evidence, which has been used to convict countless people over the past century. Contrary to what is generally thought, there is little scientific basis for assuming that any two supposedly identical fingerprints unequivocally come from the same person. Indeed, according to a report published last month, the only major research explicitly commissioned to validate the technique is based on flawed assumptions and an incorrect use of statistics. The research has never been openly peer reviewed.

....

>>The other thing is, does anyone know how they work? Are the identifying
>>features of the fingerprints stored in the reader itself, or does it just
>>spit out the equivalent of a checksum to the application for
>>comparison/verification?
>
>How Stuff Works: http://travel.howstuffworks.com/fingerprint-scanner.htm
>

...

>I'm not a big fan of biometric identification, since it's impossible to revoke such ID should it be compromised. It's also impossible to store your fingerprints securely, since anyone who wants a copy only has to hand you a (clean) glass of (room temperature) wine. We've all seen Charlie's Angels, right?

Or the old gummy bear trick?

-- 
--
Kim Holburn 
Network Consultant - Telecommunications Engineering
Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering
Australian National University - Ph: +61 2 61258620 M: +61 0417820641
Email: kim.holburn at anu.edu.au  - PGP Public Key on request

Life is complex - It has real and imaginary parts.
     Andrea Leistra (rec.arts.sf.written.Robert-jordan)