IP: From Dorothy: WHY I LOVE BIOMETRICS BY DOROTHY E. DENNING

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 16:22:00 -0500
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> From: "Dorothy E. Denning" <denning () cs georgetown edu>
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> This article was written over a year ago for the Logoff column of
> Information Security Magazine.  I was limited to the number of words you
> see below, and my objective was really to make one point, namely that in
> terms of authentication, secrecy was not the issue so much as liveness. The
> reason I wrote the article is because at the time, several people were
> claiming that biometrics would fall apart if ever your biometric print was
> disclosed.  I wanted to counter that argument by making the analogy with
> the real world.  The context here was user authentication -- something to
> replace passwords, which I really do hate.
>
> Of course there are numerous privacy issues relating to biometrics. I did
> not have enough words to address them too.  My feeble attempt to say
> something at the end was probably worse than saying nothing at all, as it
> comes across as insensitive.  However, please keep in mind that the article
> was written long before 9-11 and, I believe, before the use of face
> recognition systems in stadiums, airports, etc. Certainly if I were to
> write an article on biometrics today, I would address the privacy issues.
> I will address them at the CATO meeting Thursday.
>
> Yes, I supported Clipper when it was introduced.  I also supported its
> abandonment, the liberalization of export controls, and the lack of
> domestic controls.
>
> Regards,
> Dorothy

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