When was biometrics first invented?
Biometrics addresses a longstanding concern to be able to prove one's identity, irrefutably, by making use of what makes one different.As far back as prehistoric times, man already had a feeling that individual characteristics such as the trace of his finger were sufficient to identify him, and he "signed" with his finger.But let's be honest. There's more.The truth is that biometrics - and the relationship between man and technology - is a fascinating topic. See how Holywood has been reinventing biometrics since the 1960s in our blog post (Holywood and biometrics).
History of biometrics
· In the U.K., the Metropolitan Police started the use of biometrics for identification in 1901.
· In the U.S., it was initiated by the New York police in 1902 and by the FBI in 1924.
The measurement of unique patterns (aka behavioral biometrics) is not new either. It goes back to the 1860s. Telegraph operators using Morse code recognized each other by the way they would send dash and dot signals. During World War II, allied forces used the same method to identify senders and authentication messages they received.This process is the basic principle of biometric systems: to identify a person based on specific characteristics.Biometrics is growing fast, particularly in the field of identity documents. It generally combines other security technologies such as smart cards.
Identity and biometrics
There are three possible ways of proving one's identity:
1.Using something you possess. This method is something relatively easy to do, whether it is by using the key to one's vehicle, a document, a card, or a badge.
2.Utilizing something you know, a name, a secret, or a password.
3. Through what you are, your fingerprint, your hand, your face.The use of biometrics has many benefits. The leading one is the level of security and accuracy that it guarantees. In contrast to passwords, badges, or documents, biometric data cannot be forgotten, exchanged, stolen, or forged. According to calculations made by Sir Francis Galton (Darwin's cousin), the probability of finding two similar fingerprints is one in 64 billion even with identical twins (homozygotes).
It is in this sense that biometrics is inextricably linked to the question of identity.
In the second century B.C., the Chinese emperor Ts'In She was already authenticating specific seals with a fingerprint.In the 19th century, Bertillon took the first steps in scientific policing. He used measurements taken of specific anatomical characteristics to identify reoffending criminals, a technique that often proved successful, though without offering any real guarantee of reliability. This budding use of biometrics was then somewhat forgotten, only to be rediscovered by William James Herschel, a British officer, to be used for an entirely different purpose. Having been put in charge of building roads in Bengal, he had his subcontractors sign contracts with their fingerprints. An early form of biometric authentication and a sure way of being able to find them more quickly if they defaulted.
· The French police in Paris (préfecture de police) started to initiate the same process in 1888 with its Forensic Identification Unit (mug shot and anthropometry). Four prints were instituted in 1894 and tenprints were added in 1904.
