When faced with document fraud, identity theft, and threats regarding terrorism and cybercrime and the evolution of international regulations, new technological solutions are gradually in place and implemented.

Among other technologies and solutions, biometric security systems are the most relevant and efficient for identifying and authenticating people reliably and quickly using unique biological characteristics.

Presently, many applications, enterprises and companies use these technological features and biometric security systems. What was once reserved for only sensitive applications such as secure military sites has become a rapidly developing consumer application.

What are biometrics?

Biometrics is the science that lies behind the analysis of physical and/or behavioural characteristics that are unique and specific to each individual and that allow the authentication of their identity.

In a literal sense and simply speaking, biometrics is the measurement of the human body. There are two categories of biometric technologies: physiological measurements and behavioural measurements.

Physiological measurements can be morphological or biological. For morphological analyses, these are mainly fingerprints, the shape of the hand, the finger, the venous network, the eye (iris and retina), or even the shape of the face. However, the different kinds of measurements do not have the same level of reliability. Physiological measurements are believed to have the advantage of being more stable over an individual's lifetime. For example, they do not experience the effects of stress as much as identification by behavioural measurement does.

Biometric identification and authentication

Biometrics allows the identification and authentication of a person from recognizable and verifiable data specific to him and unique. Identification consists in determining the identity of a person.

This involves entering biometric data of this person, for example, by taking a photo of his face, recording his voice, or by capturing the image of his fingerprint. This data is then compared to the biometric data of several other people who appear in a database.

Authentication, also known as verification, compares characteristic data from a person to that person's biometric reference template (“template”) to determine likeness. The reference model is previously recorded and stored in a database, insecure equipment or personal object. We check here that the person presented is the person he claims to be.

​Identity and biometrics

There are three ways to prove your identity:
  • through what we have. Until then, it was quite easy to do so, whether it was the key to your vehicle, a document, a card, or a badge.
  • Through what we know, a name, a secret or a password.
  • Through what you are, your fingerprint, your hand, your face.
The use of biometrics has many advantages, the first of which is the level of security and precision it guarantees. Unlike passwords, badges, documents, biometric data cannot be forgotten, exchanged, stolen, and remain tamper-proof.

Generally speaking, biometric security systems use biometrics to protect your data, documents, and files in the larger possible sense.