Biometrics: Facing Up to Terrorism

Abstract

Biometrics refer to the use of a person's physical characteristics or personal traits to identify, or verify the claimed identity of that individual. Finger prints, faces, voices, and handwritten signatures are all examples of characteristics that have been used to identify a person. This issue paper discusses how biometric technologies could be used to impede terrorism in three critical areas: (1) Controlling access to sensitive facilities at airports; (2) Preventing identity theft and fraud in the use of travel documents; and (3) Identifying known or suspected terrorists. It further offers a proposed counterterrorist application that uses a type of biometric known as facial recognition to identify terrorists.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2001
Accession Number
ADA406181

Entities

People

  • John D. Woodard Jr.

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber
  • Human Systems
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Airport Security
  • Airports
  • Biometrics
  • Databases
  • Department Of Defense
  • Facial Recognition
  • Governments
  • Identification
  • Law
  • National Security
  • Public Safety
  • Recognition
  • Security
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • Test And Evaluation
  • United States

Readers

  • Computer Vision.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.