Facial biometric scanning is quickly becoming a hot topic in the tech world right now. This comes off the back of Apple announcing their brand new iPhone X (pronounced ‘10’ not ‘ex’, call it the iPhone X and Apple will hunt you down…allegedly) and unveiling its key features. One of the main points was the lack of Touch ID, which was replaced by a facial scanning system.
This sent tech bloggers into overdrive as they debated whether or not this meant the end of fingerprint scanning. While I don’t think that’s true, it certainly did signify the start of the facial biometric scanning era. I believe the future of biometrics does lie with facial scanning, and this is largely due to the multiple uses you can get out of it. With fingerprint scanning, you pretty much only use it for locking/unlocking various things. But, facial scanning can do a lot more…
Biometric Facial Scanning Security
Firstly, facial scanning can work the same way as fingerprint scanning in that you can use it to lock/unlock various things or devices. But, the security purposes of this technology go above and beyond this. A huge purpose is to scan individual faces on security footage. This is often used by the very top security organizations in the world, but advances in technology can make it more accurate and available to smaller organizations. The idea is that if you spot someone stealing from a store, you can scan their face and find out who it is by looking at government data/records. It can be used to quickly catch and chase down criminals, and the fact that facial scanning is now coming to smartphones shows how far the technology has come. It means it soon may be possible to install high-definition surveillance cameras with facial scanning abilities, beefing up security.
Biometric Voting At Elections
Perhaps the most exciting use for facial scanning revolves around elections. There are companies out there like Smartmatic that are working on a new way to vote. Instead of everyone going to a polling station or voting by post, they can use their mobile devices instead. The idea is that they scan their face and it’s matched against government documents to verify who the person is. Then, you can submit your vote via a secure message. It opens up new possibilities and could increase the voting percentages, particularly in young people. It will also help avoid horrible situations like the one in Barcelona where the police intervened and tried to stop people voting in the Catalan referendum.
Fully Biometric Passports
The majority of passports now double up as e-passports. This means you pop it under a scanner, look into a camera, and if your face matches the image, you get let through passport control. With advances in biometric scanning, we could see more and more passports adapt this technology. Furthermore, they will become more reliable and a lot quicker too. This means less waiting in line and more accurate passport control for everyone.
As you can see, facial biometric scanning has many amazing and beneficial uses. Personally, I predict we’ll see it become a more visible part of everyday life in the coming years.
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