Biometrics are unique physical characteristics like fingerprints, facial patterns, and voices. Biometric verification uses these traits to confirm that individuals are who they say they are, and this technology has become the go-to method for confirming identities in data-sensitive environments like governments, businesses, and healthcare.
Key takeaways
- Biometric verification uses unique physical traits like fingerprints and iris patterns to confirm identity.
- Biometric data is difficult to replicate or fake, making it more secure than passwords or PINs, which can be forgotten or stolen.
- Concerns about biometric verification include potential misuse for surveillance or purposes that the user didn’t agree to.
- The biometrics field continues to evolve with new types of biometrics and multimodal approaches, supporting greater accuracy, efficiency, and speed in identity verification.
Biometrics definition
Biometrics verify identity using physical or behavioral characteristics that are unique to each person. These include static features like fingerprints, but can also apply to patterns, such as how a person walks or speaks. These traits are nearly impossible to replicate or fake, making them a secure and convenient method for authenticating identities within identity verification (IDV) and identity-as-a-service (IDaaS) solutions.
Verification methods using biometrics eliminate concerns about forgotten or leaked security credentials. This makes biometrics extremely valuable in sectors with strong requirements for protecting data and systems, such as government, finance, and technology.
What are the different types of biometrics?
There are three primary types of biometric identifiers:
- Biological: Traits like DNA or blood samples. These are commonly used in forensic and law enforcement applications to identify bodies and crime suspects. In healthcare, they are used to research diseases and potential treatments. Cost, complexity, and privacy concerns make this method relatively rare in security applications.
- Morphological: Physical characteristics such as a person’s iris, fingerprints, or facial features. These are the most widely used biometrics because of the relative ease of scanning these features. They’re often used in personal devices, enterprise systems, and for digital identity verification.
- Behavioral: Patterns like walking style, voice characteristics, or handwriting. Voice recognition powers smart virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. Touchscreen behavior is an emerging biometric being applied to banking and financial services to prevent fraud. Security firms are adopting gait analysis for crowd surveillance, while signature analysis is being deployed to verify financial and legal transactions.
How does biometric verification work?
The use of biometrics identity verification systems has rapidly increased in the past few years, with the global market estimated to reach 338.83 billion by 2034. Biometric verification works differently depending on where it's used. A passport check, for example, works differently than unlocking a phone. However, it generally relies on the same core components:
- Biometric software that captures and compares a biometric signal (such as a face) to an identity document
- Matching/authentication software and equipment, such as biometric scanners, that verify or identify users
- Digital templates that standardize formats of biometric data
- Smart cards, badges, and passports that store biometrics for ID and travel purposes
- Mobile apps that enable camera-based facial recognition or fingerprint scanning
Emerging methods for biometrics identity verification systems include using blockchain verification of biometric credentials and biometric-as-a-service (BaaS) platforms.
Advantages of biometrics for security
Biometrics give a higher assurance that a person is who they say they are than other forms of verification. They offer a secure and convenient way to prove customer identities during onboarding, verification, or authentication.
The process is similar to when someone compares your face in person to that on your ID, such as when you go through border control. However, biometric verification is completed in a digital setting and uses AI algorithms to do the comparison. This makes the process faster and much more accurate than manual verification.
Biometrics are also considered far more secure than other methods of identification, such as passwords, which can be forgotten or stolen, or knowledge-based questions, which can also be hard for customers to remember. They are also easy for customers to use, because they rely on inherent biological, physical, and behavioral characteristics.
Biometrics use cases
Governments use biometrics for secure identification in passports, national ID programs, voter registration, border control, and law enforcement. Fingerprints, facial recognition, and iris scans streamline digital access to public services and physical access to different countries.
In finance, companies use biometrics to verify the identity of customers or member applicants, ensuring that only authorized individuals can open and access accounts. Fingerprint, facial, and voice recognition help prevent fraud, support know your customer (KYC) compliance, and simplify customer onboarding, removing a need for more traditional methods of identity verification.
The healthcare industry uses biometrics for patient check-in kiosks, single sign-on (SSO) to access and protect patient records and data, and to authenticate the identity of patients and staff in real time.
Biometrics also have wide applications in commercial use, such as reducing time or attendance fraud on job sites, preventing shoplifting, and faster digital onboarding during account creation.
And by providing secure, keyless access to buildings or restricted areas, biometric identity verification systems allow only authorized individuals to enter facilities. This eliminates the security risks of lost, stolen, or misplaced badges or passwords.
Concerns about biometrics
Biometrics offers significant security and efficiency advantages, but it raises important ethical and privacy concerns.
Because it involves highly personal information, people want assurance that their biometric data will be stored securely. When biometric data is compromised, recovering from identity theft becomes far more difficult. Entrust encrypts biometric data at rest and in transit, with built-in policies for secure storage and automatic deletion to minimize exposure.
Customers also want transparency about what biometrics are used for, as there’s concern that biometric data might be repurposed. When the biotech company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in early 2025, for example, privacy advocates sounded the alarm that millions of customers’ DNA could be sold with the company’s assets. Entrust is committed to transparency: biometric use cases are clearly defined, with data tied only to the purpose the user consents to.
Finally, biometric systems like facial recognition have drawn criticism for enabling surveillance without consent and showing bias in performance across different demographic groups. In rare cases, these flaws have led to wrongful arrests and real-world harm, as evidence of racial bias in some algorithms has reduced accuracy when identifying people of color. Entrust rigorously tests for bias across age, race, and gender, and using representative datasets to improve fairness and reduce false matches.
Future of biometrics
In the coming years, biometric authentication is likely to become even more common in daily life. Potential future applications include sectors like healthcare use it to support verifying patient identities. Homes can potentially use increasingly sophisticated biometric smart technology that unlocks doors and activates alarms.
Advances in algorithms and AI-powered technology will improve the speed, security, and accuracy of biometrics identity verification systems. Modern identity verification solutions are also training their AI models to mitigate bias and better account for variations in appearance due to aging, changes in hair color or style, and other factors.
Emerging biometrics like vein patterns and brainwave signatures may also find a foothold in similar environments.
Complementing and enhancing biometrics with Entrust
Today’s organizations require biometric technology and access management systems designed to address current and evolving security needs.
Entrust Identity Verification (IDV) solutions power and support biometric authentication to close that gap. Our suite of verifications help businesses provide a trusted, seamless user experience while fighting fraud and addressing regulatory compliance needs.
Take a tour today to see our biometric identity verification solution in motion.
FAQs
What is a biometric passport?
A biometric passport contains a microchip that stores the holder’s encrypted biometric data, such as a digital photograph, fingerprints, or iris scans. This technology enables automated identity verification at border control points using facial recognition systems and biometric scanners. Biometric passports significantly improve security by preventing the use of fake or stolen passports.
What is biometric data?
Biometric data refers to unique biological, morphological, and behavioral characteristics that can be used to identify individuals. Biological biometrics include DNA and blood samples. Morphological biometrics include fingerprints, facial features, iris patterns, and retinal scans. Behavioral biometrics refer to traits like gaits while walking, voice patterns, and signature dynamics. This data is converted into digital templates in biometric software for comparison and authentication purposes. Unlike passwords or ID cards, biometric data is extremely difficult to steal or forge, making authentication and verification methods more secure.
What is biometric authentication?
Biometric authentication is the process of verifying a person's identity using their unique biological, morphological, or behavioral characteristics. Instead of relying on passwords or PINs, which can be stolen, shared, or forgotten, this technology analyzes physical or biological traits like DNA, fingerprints, or facial features to confirm identity.
What is a biometric scanner?
A biometric scanner is a device that captures and analyzes unique human characteristics for identity verification purposes. They may have optical sensors for fingerprints, high-resolution cameras for facial recognition, infrared imaging for iris scanning, and microphones for voice analysis. They may be used in airports, law enforcement, or high-security facilities.
