Page 52 - Security Today, September/October 2024

Unlocking the
End-user Perception
By Heidi Hunter
An observation as a creator of identity verification so- lutions is that while industry leaders are often excit- ed by the opportunity to leverage biometrics, there are often concerns raised about the end-user mind- set during the conversation. Primarily, what are end- users’ expectations of biometric technology? What concerns might they have about its usage to authenticate and protect their access?
Security and identity management leaders have access to infor- mation that permits us to be discerning and technology-forward end-users. Understanding the perception of end-users who may be a bit more unfamiliar with the industry is key to unlocking the strategy and approach to the implementation of biometrics.
TARGETING INSIGHTS
Aware recently conducted a study of U.S. participants with key questions targeting insights into their perceptions of biometrics. According to this survey, overall consumer receptiveness towards biometric authentication is high, with most respondents report- ing they use it “often” or “always” in their daily lives. Further- more, participants indicated they overwhelmingly believe that biometrics are set to become more prevalent in the next five years.
Biometric adoption by organizations presents an opportunity to enhance the end-user experience, increase security, and stream- line operations. Still, three key concerns can create barriers to more widespread biometric technology adoption – the presence
of bias in biometric technology, concerns over data breaches and adherence to privacy laws, and end-user abandonment when bio- metrics are deployed by organizations.
Here, we’ll discuss these questions at a deeper level, and we will also share, with insights from the study, how they can best be ad- dressed by organizations looking to lead with biometric technology.
Bias in biometric technology can lead to unfair outcomes. The belief that facial biometrics are not accurate across races/ethnici- ties/genders and can lead to unfair treatment of minority groups.
Insights. There are various public organizations and private companies who have received scrutiny in the last decade for using a biometric facial technology that generated a percentage of false positives on people of color and different genders disproportion- ate to the Caucasian male demographic.
These circumstances often make national headlines and can create public distrust of biometric-based solutions. These solu- tions are deployed with positive intentions – automation, secu- rity, fraud prevention – but negative press and solutions with inconsistent demographic and gender performance drive organi- zational concern and distrust among end users.
Fortunately, there are many biometric authentication technolo- gies that are far more accurate and able to overcome racial and gender bias, making biometrics good for business, and moreover, society. Today, NIST testing confirms the top biometric algorithms are over 99 percent accurate across a variety of demographics.
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024 | SECURITY TODAY
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EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES