This is what Uzi Berlinski - the government responsible for biometric identification and information security says: Mishna: Accenture: The most requested biometric system in airports: facial recognition
"There is no way capable of guaranteeing the full security of the airport passengers as long as the human factor is involved. At the same time, biometrics (voice recognition, face, iris, fingerprint) may be the best solution for protecting the front and back 'doors' in this space", says Dennis Filo, a researcher at the international business consulting and technology services company Accenture.
The aviation industry wants the passenger public to trust that it implements sophisticated technologies that will prevent the intrusion of unwanted elements. In reality, the success of these efforts depends on the passage of these unwanted elements through the front doors alone. "At many airports," Philo says, "the situation is such that employees can enter rear staff parking lots and enter terminals from side entrances without being required to go through metal detectors. The hope is that it will be possible to plug these 'holes' in the security network using biometrics."
Just a few years ago, the main concern that the apartment overlooked by airport managers in the US was flight delays, labor costs and birds on the flight paths. Today, the main concern is security and its side effects. The heavier security creates delays in flights and the flying public is starting to get tired of the body checks, the confiscation of tweezers and the picking of socks in the suitcase. Airport managers are desperate to find ways to disperse security points and are showing interest in adopting biometric systems, which are currently used in licensing offices, casinos and prisons.
"In the biometric systems, the facial recognition system leads the way (long before fingerprints and iris and voice recognition). This is mainly because facial recognition in existing databases is much easier than collecting fingerprints, eyes and voices," says Filo. For example, fingerprint scanning of so-called "trusted passengers" requires the passenger to register in advance. On the other hand, facial scanning requires the passenger to pose briefly in front of a camera. The image is converted to print using software, which turns facial features into a unique set of numbers. The image print is compared to a database containing up to a million images. If a match is suspected, the print is checked again by an on-site technician.
"Of course, all of this costs a lot of money, a serious problem for the aviation industry, which is suffering from financial problems," says Filo. "Therefore, discussions are underway regarding spreading the economic burden across organizations that may be interested in scanning large population groups. The first to take an interest are law enforcement institutions, which invest considerable effort in pursuing bailees and parole violators. Adding images of these and other risk factors to a general database of 'wanted' would, theoretically, allow airport security staff to block the air escape route."
Intermediate: Resistance
Opposition to the biometric method is emerging from the ranks of private lawyers, mainly in view of the risk of misidentification of a biometric system. Concern also arises regarding the way the images are collected in these databases and their use, and whether a signature of the passenger is necessary, confirming the use of his image.
Currently, one company called Viisage is trying to sell extremely successful systems to airports, operating in casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The company even provided the biometric security system for the 2001 Super Bowl. Recently, the company won two tenders from the US Department of State and Defense to supply the technology, which will be implemented in several initiatives related to defense and immigration.
Uzi Berlinski, the inspector general in the prime minister's office, is responsible for five areas: responsible for correcting the deficiencies that appeared in the state comptroller's reports under the committee of ministers and the prime minister; Responsible for the audit and information security section and also serves as the chairman of the Council for Security of Sensitive Information in the government, and is also responsible for the areas of ethics, quality of service control and internal audit in the government.
The government recently appointed Berlinski to coordinate the issue of biometrics in various aspects of the government and its operations. "About two weeks ago, the biometrics steering committee met for the first time, and we plan to meet once a month at the Prime Minister's Office to determine areas of activity, priorities, investments in certain areas, training, and so on," he says.
What is biometrics?
"Biometrics is what you are, not what the documents indicate about you, or the password you remember. And from this it can be understood that the ability to achieve identification verification using biometrics is much higher than the other abilities. The other abilities are easy to fake and can be copied, and the possibility of human memory and the limited amount of ability to remember passwords from applications, hardware and software that we work with."
Which applications are in the crosshairs?
"There is a respectable list of applications not all of which are currently prioritized.
"The potential is huge and includes biometric identification on the use of cell phones (by voice recognition, fingerprint or face recognition by a camera, biometric identification that will be attached to a digital signature), border crossings - biometric identification that will be attached to a passport, identity card or other official documents; Access to computer systems only for those who are approved for this; Eliminating the need to use metal keys in prisons; The image of the hybrid walking with bunches of keys will disappear in the near future, I think; Entry into classified areas for those who are allowed, for example at airports - increased options for employees and fewer for others.
"Biometric identification can also be used for law enforcement - for example, comparing photos of people from criminal databases with those who enter the same area which is a sensitive area or an area where there is a gathering, such as football fields, stadiums and so on; Verification tool for online payment, prevention of credit card forgeries - the recent stories published about young people who duplicated credit cards can disappear in the blink of an eye if biometric identification elements are integrated into the credit cards. In the morning we won't have to look for the car keys, we can touch the remote control or the car door to get inside. The fingerprint or photo can also be used as an immobilizer; We are close to the elections - it will be possible to verify in an almost absolute way that those who present themselves as having the right to vote do indeed have the right.
"The thousand people aged 120 and over who were discovered in the voter's register, and hence also in the eligible lists of the National Insurance, are alarming. Is it possible to prevent fraud in the National Insurance by those 'living dead'?
"In the state of Connecticut in the USA, all those eligible to receive benefits from the local National Insurance were required to have a smart card that carries biometric identifiers. The National Insurance Institute reports annually on savings of tens of millions of dollars as a result of fraud prevention. Funds that can then be earmarked for important social causes and will not end up in the pockets of crooks.
"After September 11, there was a tremendous momentum in the issue of biometrics in the USA, including legislation that requires, as of October 26, 2003, anyone who wants to enter the borders of the USA and is not an American citizen, to come equipped with biometric identifiers in addition to the usual documentation. They have not yet determined which and how. We are waiting for the publication of the procedures that they will surely release soon and then we will have to contact some office or the embassy to register in the biometric database and be equipped with the database. This is similar to the process that goes through someone who wants to win a magnetic card, with the help of which, and with the help of recognizing his palm, he will be prevented from having to stand for a long time in the passport control lines."
How do you achieve increased individual modesty and privacy protection in the age of biometric identification?
"This issue must accompany every sensitive database. A biometric database is, by its definition, a sensitive database and is subject to the provisions of the law for the protection of privacy and databases that require its protection, security, prevention of cross-referencing of information through or with its help and use of the data only for the exact purpose for which they were taken. For example, police use of 'civilian' biometric databases should not be agreed to in any way, the creation of personal medical or other profiles on a person due to biometric databases taken, say, for the purposes of entering secure areas or crossing the country's borders with their help, should not be agreed to in any way. An administrator must be appointed for these databases, who will be responsible for preventing unusual uses of these sensitive databases.
"The steering committee will decide in its upcoming meetings on government applications that will receive priority in their promotion due to the needs of the state and the government. In addition, a list of biometric products will be included that will be tested by authorized parties and offered for use by the various state authorities according to their unique needs, such as access control, attendance registration, access to computer websites, computer systems, and so on."
Are there global standards in the field?
"The big difficulty is the lack of relevant standardization in the world. This is a field that is in development and therefore Israel may be forced to set standards for itself so as not to rely on manufacturers' statements. We have, for example, come across very reputable manufacturers who announce zero identification errors with their product, something that does not seem possible on the face of it, and from tests we have conducted on samples that are not even large, it turns out that there is sometimes a gap between the statement and the results of the tests that take place.
"In the US they want to close the social gap and not discriminate against children who don't have money to buy a meal at school. They give everyone a card with biometric IDs, pass them through a 'reader' and no one knows who got an exemption and who didn't. On the other hand, one of the most serious failures has already happened in the USA. The US Department of Defense recently determined that everyone involved in its activities, including suppliers and family members, a total of approximately 5 million people, will be equipped with biometric identifiers for entering military facilities, the Ministry of Defense for meetings, and so on. And here we were recently 'informed' that this sensitive database was stolen in part - about half a million people had their biometric identity stolen, including additional data - health and other. This phenomenon emphasizes even more strongly what we have already said regarding strict adherence to the protection of these databases and prevention of leakage or theft or disruption of data.
"There is tremendous potential here both in terms of government services to the public, both in terms of improving personal security, and in terms of streamlining the systems that today are under a difficult attack by hackers, crooks and terrorists.
There is no real value today to paper documents that are very easy to forge using computers, scanners, digital cameras, image processing software. Any child today can produce a magnetic card and the serious consequences are felt both in the economy, in security and in government. The good news brought by the new steering committee is in dealing with these phenomena and creating a better quality of life.
"The potential is in everything - also in the creation of the repositories, also in connecting other applications. I mentioned the digital signature earlier. This is a very beautiful and very important thing, but if I receive your password, I also received your digital signature at the same time and they will never know if indeed my father is the sender or Uzi is the sender and the court will have to deal with very serious issues in the face of the great trust it places in the digital signature . Connecting the biometrics to the digital signature and encryption is another line."
