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GCN Home > 03/19/07 issue

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Interoperability and policy issues still hamper HSPD-12 deployments of fingerprint technology

By David Essex, Special to GCN

Electronic fingerprint verification is emerging as the biometric technology of choice for federal identification badges. And as deadlines loom for agencies to deploy interoperable smart cards that must communicate with back-end computer systems—as mandated by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12—technology and standards surrounding electronic fingerprint verification have taken center stage.

Fingerprints are a good fit for HSPD-12. Fingerprinting has a proven track record with its use by law enforcement, and the technology can easily be deployed and managed on personal-identity verification cards, advocates say.

Yet some experts are skeptical of fingerprints as the most reliable biometric, noting that prints are susceptible to damage. They advocate a multiple-biometric approach that includes technology such as facial recognition to assure a person’s identity. Others point out that fingerprint technologies have a way to go in meeting federal standards for interoperability, and that the HSPD-12 policies themselves still must be clarified.

“There is a significant amount of interest in the agencies wanting to do this [HSPD-12],” said Bill Willis, executive vice president of ImageWare Systems Inc. of San Diego, a maker of multibiometric identity management platforms. “They’re a little hamstrung because it is a nonfunded mandate, but we’re seeing an uptick in contracts. In 2007, you will see adoption, and you will see it at a significant level.”

Until late 2005, a debate raged within the federal government over whether PIV cards’ fingerprint biometric should be based on a complete image of the prints, or instead on mathematical representations called minutia. The decision was in favor of minutia, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology soon issued guidance in Special Publication 800-76-1, updated this past January and titled Biometric Data Specification for Personal Identity Verification.

800-76-1 incorporates, by reference, a sort of hierarchy of current fingerprint and biometric standards. Just below HSPD-12 is Federal Information Processing Standard 201, which defines how the identity of applicants is verified, how PIV cards are issued and used, and means of encrypting biometric data on the cards.

More news on related topics: Authentication / Identity Management, Homeland Security, IT Management



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