Ethics in biometrics authentication

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack birth the idea of biometric measures, when the traditional methods of identification were concluded to be prone to leakage of personal information, identity theft, fraud, etc., and there are great security risks in identity recognition. Biometrics is a device used to identify and reliably confirm a person’s individuality using the physiological or behavioral characteristics. This term paper examined some of the gray areas surrounding biometric technology and informs the public about the growing number of ethical concerns associated with the use. The idea came up as a result of the rising popularity of biometric systems and their application in mainstream society which led to many ethical concerns, where biometric sensors and scanners are being implemented with no consideration for unintended negative consequences. A systematic review of related literatures was adopted and used to examine the relevant ethical issues. The identified ethical issues paved way for the recommendation of 7 points guidelines, which when adopted will alleviate the fear associated with biometric technology.