False Alarm Rate (FAR)

A statistic used to measure biometric performance when operating in the open-set identification (sometimes referred to as watchlist) task. This is the percentage of times an alarm is incorrectly sounded on an individual who is not in the biometric system�s database (the system alarms on Frank when Frank isn�t in the database), or an alarm is sounded but the wrong person is identified (the system alarms on John when John is in the database, but the system thinks John is Steve).