Biometrics: Weighing Convenience and National Security against Your Privacy

The biometric identifier relies on an individual\u27s unique biological information such as a hand, iris, fingerprint, facial or voice print. When used for verification purposes, a one-to-one match is generated in under one second. Biometric technology can substantially improve national security by identifying and verifying individuals in a number of different contexts, providing security in ways that exceed current identification technology and limiting access to areas where security breaches are especially high, such as airport tarmacs and critical infrastructure facilities. At the same time, a legitimate public concern exists concerning the misuse of biometric technology to invade or violate personal privacy