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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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040389
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04038900.059
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1990-09-22
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TECHNOLOGY, Page 79Putting the Finger on SecurityBiometrics could make keys and combination locks obsoleteBy Cristina Garcia
In the new, updated version of the TV show Mission: Impossible,
special agent Jim Phelps no longer gets his top-secret instructions
by merely opening an envelope and listening to a tape recorder.
These days Phelps puts his right thumb on the special pad of a
black box that, after reading his thumbprint, promptly pops open
and gives a laser-disc video presentation of his next assignment.
No one but Phelps can open the box because no one else has his
thumbprint.
Think this is only the stuff of fictional covert operatives?
Think again, and welcome to the new world of biometric security.
It is a world in which traditional keys and combination locks could
eventually become obsolete. Increasingly, access to buildings,
rooms and vaults will be controlled by computerized machines that
can recognize personal characteristics of people seeking entrance:
fingerprints, blood-vessel arrangements in the eye's retina, voice
patterns, even typing rhythms. These biometric machines have
special sensors that pick up the characteristics, convert them into
digital code and compare them with data stored in the computer's
memory bank. Unless the information matches up with the
characteristics of authorized persons, entrance is denied.
The main attraction of such a system is that it is virtually
foolproof. Keys can be copied, combination locks cracked, and the
computerized cards used to open doors in fancy hotels can be
stolen. But no one can steal or copy a fingerprint. Another
advantage: people who use biometric locks no longer have to worry
about forgetting their keys.
About 20 U.S. companies, mostly young and small, are
manufacturing biometric systems. Major customers include such
security-conscious institutions as the military, nuclear plants,
research labs and banks. The ultimate success of biometrics,
however, will depend on broad business and consumer acceptance.
Proponents hope the technology will someday be standard in
companies, stores and homes.
The most common biometric security system so far is the
fingerprint scanner. In Japan a developer is installing the devices
in 360 luxury homes as a security selling point. A health spa in
Denver employs a print scanner to keep track of how often its
members use the facilities. MAPCO Inc. of Tulsa relies on a system
from Identix, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., to ensure that only
authorized truck drivers are allowed to transport loads of
dangerous gases.
In an unusual application, Orion Re-Entry, California's largest
privately owned halfway house for prisoners trying to move back
into society, uses a fingerprint scanner to monitor the comings and
goings of its residents. Before heading off for weekend furloughs
or checking in from work, residents press their right forefingers
against the machine. "It's much more expedient than the body checks
we had in prison," says a resident. For the facility's manager,
Bari Caine, the system is an excellent way to keep track of 84
residents and a high-turnover staff. "We can't always expect every
staff member to know every resident's face," she says.
Biometric eye scanners are in use in many high-security
settings. One model, manufactured by EyeDentify of Beaverton, Ore.,
works by directing a low-intensity infrared light through the pupil
to the back of the eye. Within two seconds the retinal pattern,
viewed by a camera, is compared with data in stored records. At
American Airlines' underground computer center in Tulsa, a dozen
eye scanners screen the retinal patterns of 500 employees. "People
were afraid of it at first," says Hani Rabi, an engineering manager
for the airline. "But now they feel very comfortable with the
security it affords."
Another biometric technique, voice verification, works by
creating a digital picture of an individual's vocal tract. Bad
colds or even Rich Little can not trip up the device, since it
recognizes the physiological characteristics that produce speech,
not sound or pronunciation. Using this device is as easy as saying
"Open sesame." Such major corporations as Hertz and Martin Marietta
rely on the technology to protect their computer systems, and these
user-friendly voice analyzers could be especially attractive to
homeowners and small businesses.
One limit on the spread of biometrics has been the high price
-- typically $3,000 or more for a security-access system. But as
with many other electronic gadgets, the cost could come down
rapidly. Ecco Industries of Danvers, Mass., hopes to market a $300
voice-recognition security device for consumers next year. Within
a few years, biometric security systems may be incorporated into
automated-teller machines and employed at checkout counters to
verify that a person is not using a stolen credit card. "In time,"
predicts Joseph Freeman, head of a security market-research and
consulting firm in Newtown, Conn., "you'll be able to touch a spot
on your steering wheel and start your car."