What is biometrics?

Biometrics is the verification of a person's identity through the analysis of unique characteristics. Learn how to boost security with biometric authentication.

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By:
Salvador Del Valle
February 23, 2024

In a highly digitalized world, security and identity protection have become critically important. The great relevance of cybersecurity and fraud prevention has increased the search for effective systems for identity verification.

It is in this context that the biometric technology as a revolutionary tool in verifying people's identity.

What is biometrics?

Thebiometrics refers to the science that analyzes a set of physical characteristics or behaviors unique to each person in order to verify their digital identity and grant them access to restricted spaces or online resources.

With the accelerated transition to digital media, the use of biometric systems has increasingly advanced, being implemented in our daily lives in actions as simple as unlocking mobile devices or logging in to any platform.

Due to the ability it gives institutions to go beyond passwords towards more secure and simple authentication, its use has spread very quickly. It has already reached sectors such as finance, banking and immigration.

Evolution of biometrics

Although the rise of biometric technology is relatively recent, its origin dates back to even before the 19th century, where the basic comparison of physical characteristics such as a person's handprints was used to identify them.

In the first instance, biometrics focused purely on physical traits, such as Bertillon's anthropometric system developed as a method of identification through the measurement of body parts and individual and unique marks such as scars and tattoos.

As the years went by and the advancement of technology gave way to the use of other more distinguishable physical characteristics to distinguish a human being, such as: fingerprints, the iris of the eye, the retina, the tone of voice. , etc.

However, progress has been so accelerated thanks to artificial intelligence that biometrics now also covers certain traits of human behavior such as a change in heart rate, alterations in blood vessels and even excessive sweating in the hands.

All these elements have been essential to evolve the way in which users of different services can authenticate themselves and verify their suitability as consumers of a certain product.

What types of biometrics are used to verify identity?

Biometric systems have various Applications that allow authenticating the identity of users. The most used are the following:

Fingerprints

The fingerprint is one of the most used biological characteristics in biometrics. Each person has a unique pattern on their fingers that forms before birth and remains constant throughout life.

Fingerprint readers capture these fingerprints and compare them to a database to verify an individual's identity.

Huellas dactilares

facial recognition

Facial recognition systems use advanced cameras, scanners and software to analyze unique characteristics, such as the arrangement of the eyes, nose, mouth or the shape of the ears.

As technology has advanced, facial recognition has become more accurate and is used for mobile phone unlocking, staff attendance tracking, and airport security, among other applications.

Reconocimiento facial

Iris recognition

The iris of the eye is an extremely stable and unique in each person. Iris recognition systems scan their structure and compare it with previously stored biometric information.

In recent years, this type of biometric technology is beginning to be used in smartphone recognition systems.

Reconocimiento de Iris

Speech recognition

A person's voice is like their vocal fingerprint. Speech recognition uses unique features of speech, such as intonation and frequency pattern, to recognize a person.

hand geometry

Hand geometry is based on shape and proportions of the hand of a person. Some of its uses are building access control and logging into biometric devices.

Geometría de la mano

Writing patterns

Writing patterns analyze the shape and style of a person's handwriting. While not as common as other forms of biometrics, it is used in verifying digital signatures and important documents.

Patrones de escritura

How does biometrics improve identity verification?

The use of biometric data is increasingly common in the digital age, mainly due to the numerous benefits it brings to people, institutions and companies.

The most notable advantages that biometric identification provides are:

Improved security

Biometrics offer a much higher level of security compared to passwords and pins, which can be stolen or guessed. The biometric characteristics are unique and difficult to fake.

User comfort

Biometric systems are convenient for users as they eliminate the need to remember complicated passwords or carry physical access cards. Only the person's physical presence or voice is required.

Fraud prevention

Biometric technology helps prevent the fraud and identity theft, which is essential in sectors such as banking, health and government. Biometrics is an essential tool to reduce the risks posed by the entry of unwanted users into a project or service, which today translates into monetary losses, credibility and access to new consumers.

Automation

The use of biometrics allows the automation of processes such as checking in at events or managing attendance at work, saving time and resources.

Biometric functions: identification and authentication

In an increasingly digitalized world, identity authentication and verification have become extremely important processes to ensure the security and privacy of people online.

Biometrics have become essential in security systems, highlighting both the prevention of fraud situations and Identity Theft as well as streamlining procedures, improving the user experience.

It is possible to notice how the analysis process can change over the years, however, biometrics have a privileged place for the protection of companies. Zenpli is aware of this reality and that is why it continues to give a predominant place to biometrics in the authentication processes it carries out.

Biometric technology provides extra security by completing the identity verification process with data that is not in an external database, but rather is unique identifiers that only the person in question can have and provide. This is what is called a1:1 comparison process.

The 1:1 comparison process also includes two complementary procedures: biometric identification and biometric authentication.

  • The biometric identification seeks to answer the question"Who are you?", through obtaining and comparing the individual's personal data with the information of other people, stored in databases.
  • The biometric authentication, on the other hand, seeks to respond to “Are you who you say you are?”, by verifying the data provided by the person in the identification, contrasting them with the previously registered biometric information.

Beyond biometrics

In Zenpli We develop a verification process that goes beyond mere biometrics. We analyze the digital footprint of your users and take different elements associated with their presence on the Internet (such as name, email, telephone number, address, browsing history and more), ensuring that it is not a false or synthetic identity.

Our method helps to complement biometric information, Because by combining it with the validation of the users' digital fingerprint, certainty about the suitability of the user and the veracity of their identity is increased.

In this way, we help you reduce the friction between the entry process of new users and their authentication thanks to the complementarity of methods such as biometrics and fingerprint analysis.

Our platform encompasses all dimensions of digital security, providing a frictionless login experience while ensuring the integrity and reliability of user identification.

Protect your data with cutting-edge biometrics! Find out how Zenpli can strengthen your security with advanced biometric solutions. Scale your business protection with efficient and personalized identity verification systems Contact us to know more!