Iris Scans and Biometrics, Page 3

Biometrics – Understanding Privacy vs Anonymity | Iris Scans and Biometrics | Scoop.it

From www.cio.com - July 21, 2017 2:55 PM

Richard Platt's curator insight, July 23, 2017 1:30 PM

“In the U.S., we have no less than 29 federal laws covering protections of various aspects and definitions of privacy,” says Mears. “There is no guarantee of anonymity in any of our laws.” In the case of biometrics, the loss of anonymity itself isn’t harmful; it’s what happens when someone is identified that counts. For identified bad people, we want protection for the rest of society. For innocent people, we want protection from fraud and unnecessary invasions of privacy. Strong identity helps sort them out in either case. “Strong identity concepts, pervasively implemented, are keys to a high-functioning society.”

Whether you are a government or a company, how do you maintain the public’s trust when implementing strong identity practices that include biometrics? At the highest level, the answer to this question revolves around communications, being transparent about identity policies, and periodically verifying adherance to those policies. In the case of the government, agencies involved in identity verification practices publish privacy impact assessments, which are publicly available. Companies aren’t subject to such regulations, so the International Biometrics and Identity Association, as well as the Biometrics Institute and the Security Industry Association have published recommended best practices for trustworthy companies. Generally they state that organizations should provide notice of when and where biometrics are being used and for what purpose, and be transparent with their customers or users in defining what is collected and for how long it can be stored, and on whether information can be shared and with whom. With the right transparent policies in place, rigorous biometrically-verified identity can be both beneficial to society, as well as preserving of privacy and trust.