Information Technologies and Privacy The afterm

The aftermath of September 11th terrorist attacks has left Americans asking several key questions: how safe are we and how can we prevent such an atrocity from occurring again? The area of new information technologies (IT) that is being used to enhance security is Biometric technology, which measures and analyzes the human body characteristics to authenticate identity (Grand, 2002). The most pervasive biometric technology now in use is fingerprint scanning; other traits detected with biometric solutions include hand geometry, eye pattern (iris or retina), facial features, voice signature, written signature, and keyboard patterns. The devices measure the biometric characteristic, record it into a digital file, and compare it to a version stored in a secured, trusted back-end database. These technologies have introduced myriad concerns regarding privacy, which will be examined herein.

While advocates of biometric security systems point out that such systems are far superior to traditional identity authentication measures (such as picture identification cards or badges), Grand (2002) noted that no biometric system is completely ôfail safe.ö The American civil Liberties Union (ACLU) proved in a January, 2002, case in Florida that face recognition used by the Tampa Police Department failed to identify one single criminal or suspect listed in the departmentÆs photographic database over a 4 day period while falsely identifying 14 in

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fingerprint authentication, voice/speech verification, and handwriting analysis. Genetic engineering technologies go even farther, offering tools to analyze the DNA components of human fluids and cells. Developing more effective identity authentication procedures for use as a counter-terrorism and identify theft prevention measure on the Internet and at physical point-of-sale locations is both advantageous and disadvantageous in the view of consumers (Groves, 2002). At issue, invariably, is the fear that the government (and, to a perhaps lesser degree, business) will use personal data obtained from biometrics to ôkeep tabsö on consumers and potentially to violate privacy rights. Images and a fear of ôBig Brotherö are seen as inhibiting the capacity of government and business with respect to the deployment of more sensitive and accurate identity authentication techniques. According to Lawton (1998), most biometric systems conduct a verification process, taking processed data from the person claiming to be the authorized user and compare that data to the stored data for the actual user. The other type of biometric system involves identification. This system reads a person's biological or behavioral characteristics and att
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Approximate Word count = 1268
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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