Biometrics

Biometrics terms

1. Accuracy Department of Defense parlance for the notion that information has been maintained and transferred in such a way as to be inviolate (the information has…
2. Algorithm A detailed formula or set of steps for solving a particular problem. To be an algorithm, a set of rules must be unambiguous and have a clear stopping…
3. ANSI (American National Standards Institute) A private, non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system.
4. API (Application Programming Interface) A set of functions that gives programmers access to another application's internal features from within their own application.
5. Arch A fingerprint pattern in which the friction ridges enter from one side, make a rise in the center, and exit on the opposite side.
6. Attempt The submission of a single set of biometric sample to a biometric system for identification or verification.
7. authentication The process of validating the credentials of a person, computer process, or device.
8. Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) Department of Defense (DOD) system implemented to improve the U.S. government's ability to track and identify national security threats.
9. Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) (AFIS) A system designed to significantly speed and increase the accuracy of the finger printing process.
10. Behavioral Biometric Characteristic A biometric characteristic that is learned and acquired over time rather than one based primarily on biology.
11. Benchmarking To measure a process or practice according to specified standards or references
12. Bifurcation A split in the delivery path of an e-mail message, which is sent to multiple recipients, so that the different recipients receive different copies of the…
13. Binning Process of parsing (examining) or classifying data in order to accelerate and/or improve biometric matching.
14. BioAPI (Biometrics Application Programming Interface) Defines the application programming interface and service provider interface for a standard biometric technology interface.
15. Biological Biometric Characteristic A biometric characteristic based primarily on an anatomical or physiological characteristic, rather than a learned behavior.
16. Biometric Consortium (BC) An open forum to share information throughout government, industry, and academia. For more information visit www.biometrics.org.
17. Biometric Data A catch-all phrase for computer data created during a biometric process. It encompasses raw sensor observations, biometric samples, models, templates…
18. Biometric Sample Information or computer data obtained from a biometric sensor device. Examples are images of a face or fingerprint.
19. Biometric System An automated system capable of: 1) capturing a biometric sample from an end user; 2) extracting biometric data from that sample; 3) comparing the…
20. Biometrics (BY-oh-MEH-triks) The science of collecting and analyzing biologic or health data using statistical methods.
21. Capture The method of taking a biometric sample from an end user. Source: FIPS 201
22. CBEFF (Common Biometric Exchange Formats Framework) A standard that provides the ability for a system to identify, and interface with, multiple biometric systems, and to exchange data between system…
23. Challenge Response A method used to confirm the presence of a person by eliciting direct responses from the individual. Responses can be either voluntary or involuntary.
24. Claim of identity A statement that a person is or is not the source of a reference in a database.
25. Closed-set Identification A biometric task where an unidentified individual is known to be in the database and the system attempts to determine his/her identity.
26. Comparison The process of comparing a biometric with a previously stored reference template or templates.
27. Cooperative User An individual that willingly provides his/her biometric to the biometric system for capture.
28. Core Point The "center(s)" of a fingerprint. In a whorl pattern, the core point is found in the middle of the spiral/circles.
29. Covert An instance in which biometric samples are being collected at a location that is not known to bystanders.
30. Crossover Error Rate (CER) See equal error rate (EER).
31. Cumulative Match Characteristic (CMC) A method of showing measured accuracy performance of a biometric system operating in the closed-set identification task.
32. D-Prime (D') A statistical measure of how well a system can discriminate between a signal and a non-signal.
33. database In electronic records a database is a set of data elements consisting of at least one file, or of a group of integrated files, usually stored in one…
34. Decision The opinion of the court in concluding a case at law.
35. Degrees of Freedom A statistical measure of how unique biometric data is. Technically, it is the number of statistically independent features (parameters) contained in…
36. Delta Point Part of a fingerprint pattern that looks similar to the Greek letter delta (Δ), as illustrated below.
37. Detection and Identification Rate The rate at which individuals, who are in a database, are properly identified in an open-set identification (watchlist) application.
38. Detection Error Trade-off (DET) Curve A graphical plot of measured error rates, as illustrated below. DET curves typically plot matching error rates (false non-match rate vs.
39. Difference Score A value returned by a biometric algorithm that indicates the degree of difference between a biometric sample and a reference.
40. Eavesdropping Surreptitiously obtaining data from an unknowing end user who is performing a legitimate function.
41. EFTS (Electronic Fingerprint Transmission Specification) A document that specifies requirements to which agencies must adhere to communicate electronically with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Integrated…
42. Encryption A procedure that renders the contents of a message or file unintelligible to anyone not authorized to read it.
43. End User A person who uses SmarterMail to send and receive mail, or to manage a domain consisting of other end user email accounts.
44. Enrollment The process of collecting a biometric sample from an end user, converting it into a biometric reference, and storing it in the biometric system's database…
45. Equal Error Rate (EER) A statistic used to show biometric performance, typically when operating in the verification task.
46. Extraction The process of converting a captured biometric sample into biometric data so that it can be compared to a reference.
47. Face Recognition A biometric modality that uses an image of the visible physical structure of an individual's face for recognition purposes.
48. Failure to Acquire (FTA) Failure of a biometric system to capture and/or extract usable information from a biometric sample.
49. Failure to Enroll (FTE) Failure of a biometric system to form a proper enrollment reference for an end user.
50. False Acceptance Rate (FAR) A statistic used to measure biometric performance when operating in the verification task.
51. False Alarm Rate (FAR) A statistic used to measure biometric performance when operating in the open-set identification (sometimes referred to as watchlist) task.
52. False Match Rate A statistic used to measure biometric performance when. Similar to the False Acceptance Rate (FAR).
53. False Non-Match Rate A statistic used to measure biometric performance. Similar to the False Reject Rate (FRR), except the FRR includes the Failure To Acquire error rate and…
54. False Rejection Rate (FRR) The probability that a biometric system will fail to identify an applicant, or verify the legitimate claimed identity of an applicant.
55. Feature A large, complex artifact, or part of a site, such as a hearth, cairn, housepit, rock alignment, or activity area.
56. Feature Extraction See extraction.
57. FERET (FacE REcognition Technology program) A face recognition development and evaluation program sponsored by the U.S. Government from 1993 through 1997. For more information visit www.frvt.
58. Fingerprint Recognition A biometric modality that uses the physical structure of an individual�s fingerprint for recognition purposes.
59. FpVTE - Fingerprint Vendor Technology Evaluation (2003) An independently administered technology evaluation of commercial fingerprint matching algorithms. For more information visit fpvte.nist.gov.
60. FRGC (Face Recognition Grand Challenge) A face recognition development program sponsored by the U.S. Government from 2003-2005. For more information visit www.frvt.org/FRGC. See also FERET, FRVT.
61. Friction Ridge The ridges present on the skin of the fingers and toes, and on the palms and soles of the feet, which make contact with an incident surface under normal…
62. FRVT (Face Recognition Vendor Test) A series of large-scale independent technology evaluations of face recognition systems. The evaluations have occurred in 2000, 2002, and 2005.
63. Gait An individual's manner of walking. This behavioral characteristic is in the research and development stage of automation.
64. Gallery A passageway within the body of a dam, its foundation, or abutments used for inspection, foundation grouting, and/or drainage.
65. Hamming Distance The number of non-corresponding digits in a string of binary digits; used to measure dissimilarity.
66. Hand Geometry Recognition A biometric modality that uses the physical structure of an individual�s hand for recognition purposes.
67. ICE (Iris Challenge Evaluation) A large-scale development and independent technology evaluation activity for iris recognition systems sponsored by the U.S. Government in 2005.
68. Identification The process of verifying the identity of a user, process, or device, usually as a prerequisite for granting access to resources in an IT system.
69. Identification Rate The rate at which an individual in a database is correctly identified.
70. Identity Governance The combination of policies and actions taken to ensure enterprise-wide consistency, privacy protection and appropriate interoperability between…
71. Identity Management The ability to encrypt user credentials in a secure store.
72. Impostor A person who submits a biometric sample in either an intentional or inadvertent attempt to claim the identity of another person to a biometric system.
73. INCITS (International Committee for Information Technology Standards) Organization that promotes the effective use of information and communication technology through standardization in a way that balances the interests of…
74. Indifferent User An individual who knows his/her biometric sample is being collected and does not attempt to help or hinder the collection of the sample.
75. Infrared The range of invisible radiation wavelengths from about 700 nm, just longer than red in the visible spectrum, to 1 mm, on the border of the microwave…
76. Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS) The FBI's large-scale ten fingerprint (open-set) identification system that is used for criminal history background checks and identification of latent…
77. Iris Recognition A biometric modality that uses an image of the physical structure of an individual's iris for recognition purposes, as illustrated below.
78. IrisCode© A biometric feature format used in the Daugman iris recognition system.
79. ISO (International Organization for Standardization) A non-governmental network of the national standards institutes from 151 countries.
80. Keystroke Dynamics A biometric modality that uses the cadence of an individual's typing pattern for recognition.
81. Latent Fingerprint A fingerprint "image" left on a surface that was touched by an individual. The transferred impression is left by the surface contact with the friction…
82. Live Capture Typically refers to a fingerprint capture device that electronically captures fingerprint images using a sensor (rather than scanning ink-based…
83. Liveness Detection A technique used to ensure that the biometric sample submitted is from an end user.
84. loop A construct that performs something repeatedly, like a roller coaster.
85. Match Either an exact or approximate replication. If not an exact replication, the approximate replication shall be so designed as to achieve a suitable…
86. Matching See "pattern matching".
87. Mimic The presentation of a live biometric measure in an attempt to fraudulently impersonate someone other than the submitter.
88. Minutia(e) Point Friction ridge characteristics that are used to individualize a fingerprint image, see illustration below.
89. Modality A method of treatment. For example, surgery and chemotherapy are treatment modalities.
90. model See Exhibit.
91. Multimodal Biometric System A biometric system in which two or more of the modality components (biometric characteristic, sensor type or feature extraction algorithm) occurs in…
92. Neural Net/Neural Network A type of algorithm that learns from past experience to make decisions. See also algorithm.
93. NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) A non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce that develops and promotes measurement, standards, and technology to enhance…
94. Noise Any unwanted sound that interferes with speech and hearing, causes damage to hearing, or annoys a person.
95. Non-cooperative User An individual who is not aware that his/her biometric sample is being collected.
96. One-to-many A relate in which one record in a table is related to many records in another table.
97. One-to-one A phrase used in the biometrics community to describe a system that compares one reference to one enrolled reference to make a decision.
98. Open-set Identification Biometric task that more closely follows operational biometric system conditions to 1) determine if someone is in a database and 2) find the record of the…
99. Operational Evaluation The test and analysis of a specific end item or system, insofar as practicable under Service operating conditions, in order to determine if quantity…
100. Overt Biometric sample collection where end users know they are being collected and at what location.