Biometrics, Samir Nanavati/Michael Thieme/Raj Nanavati, 2002

BKBIOMTR.RVW 20031018

"Biometrics", Samir Nanavati/Michael Thieme/Raj Nanavati, 2002, 0-471-09945-7, U$34.99/C$54.50
%A Samir Nanavati
%A Michael Thieme
%A Raj Nanavati
%C 5353 Dundas Street West, 4th Floor, Etobicoke, ON M9B 6H8
%D 2002
%G 0-471-09945-7
%I John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
%O U$34.99/C$54.50 416-236-4433 fax: 416-236-4448
%O http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471099457/robsladesinterne
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471099457/robsladesinte-21
%O http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471099457/robsladesin03-20
%P 300 p.
%T "Biometrics"

Part one deals with the fundamentals of biometrics. Chapter one presents a brief rationale for the use of the technology. Biometric concepts are given in chapter two, but only the most basic. In chapter three's look at accuracy there are standard metrics as well as a few unusual ones (and some non-standard jargon).

Part two reviews the various biometric technologies. Chapters four through nine cover fingerprint scanning, face recognition (although it fails to cover the selection of skin areas, or the characteristics of eigenfaces), iris scanning, voiceprint, other physical factors (hand geometry, retina scanning, and an odd inclusion of the automated fingerprint identification system), and behavioral characteristics (signature and keystroke).

Part three outlines biometric applications and markets. Chapter ten tries to categorize biometric uses and ends up being scattered and confusing. "Citizen-Facing Applications," in chapter eleven, turns out to involve law enforcement and government surveillance. Likewise, in chapters twelve and thirteen, "Employee-Facing Applications" refers to employee monitoring and "Customer-Facing Applications" drifts around some issues related to identity verification for commerce. Chapter fourteen presents law enforcement, government, the financial industry, healthcare, and travel as being vertical markets for biometrics.

Part four touches on privacy and standards, with privacy risks in chapter fifteen, designing biometrics for privacy in sixteen, and some proposed standards in seventeen.

This text provides broad but superficial coverage of the topic. The non-standard terminology (verification instead of authentication, and false match rate rather than false acceptance rate) may be confusing, but the totally meaningless phrases (citizen-, employee-, and customer-facing applications) are probably even more so. While other book-length treatments of the subject are rare, it is difficult to see that this work adds much value to the discussion, especially compared with superior articles (such as "Biometric Identification" by Donald R. Richards, printed in the "Information Security Management Handbook" [cf. BKINSCMH.RVW]) which do.