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Biometric authentication will feature across 600 million devices by 2021, a new study from Juniper Research has predicted.
Biometrics are becoming more integrated into consumers’ lives. This year, there is an estimated 190 million mobile devices with this technology, including smartwatches.
According to the study, demand from businesses for methods, which do not depend upon hardware, will help raise the profile of new biometrics, like voice and facial recognition over the next five years.
Face and voice recognition is easier to deploy than fingerprint identification because they do not require hardware in order to function accurately.
With a diverse range of biometrics emerging in the general consumer market, it is expected that more than one biometric access method will soon be part of consumers’ mobile experience.
The research explains that this shift will occur because biometrics cannot be simply changed. Unlike normal passwords, if a device using the technology is compromised it cannot be used again.
The research also found the use of biometrics will shift from identification to verification. This will mostly be due to an increased need for security surrounding the technology.
Research author James Moar said: “While biometrics offer an increased amount of security and convenience, they need higher levels of protection. Establishing best practices for storage and transmission of newer biometrics will be key to ensuring consumer control, and the security of personal data.”
The biometric information that is stored on a device and confirmation of this is sent to a service, instead of being transmitted and compared to a remotely held record of the biometric itself.
