Biometric Technology: A Brief History

Due to the evolution of advanced technology, biometrics has not only functions for authenticating identity. As the development of automated system continues, biometric authentication algorithm also works well for payment authentication. In such a way, it would be more convenient to pay online. Payment authentication is the process of validating a customer’s identity by utilizing at least one of the following authentication factors: knowledge, inherence, ownership, and user location. 

Aside from payment authentication, another method can validate a user’s credentials – delegated authentication. It indicates that the merchant can directly authenticate the customer, bypassing the issuer and facilitating the ‘one-click purchase’ experience. 

Besides, this article will discuss the brief history of biometrics and how it evolved as years passed. The first record of biometrics happened in the 1800s. The process evolved into a unique means of authenticating a person’s identity.

Fingerprinting was used to validate a criminal’s identification and as a kind of contract signing in the 1800s. The fingerprint was a unique identifier to use for holding someone accountable. With that, Edward Henry developed the Henry Classification Method, the first system to identify people based on the unique architectures of fingerprints.

Biometrics has also made considerable strides. Administrators created facial recognition in the 1960s to assess facial features on photographs and extract valuable feature points. The Federal Bureau of Investigation funded the development of this automated technology for law enforcement to use fingerprint and facial recognition.

As biometrics became more prominent in the 1980s, speech recognition arose. Thanks to speech recognition technologies, it has formed the foundation for the bulk of people’s voice command and recognition systems. Irises’ concept evolved as biometrics for the first time in 1985, and the first iris algorithm recognition occurred in 1994. The specific blood vessel pattern in the eyes suggested that it may be utilized for authentication as well.

Biometrics were commercially sold and used at large-scale events in the 2000s. It is patent-protected throughout the United States of America. It is no longer used in large corporations or government settings since it has become essential in people’s daily lives.

Biometric technology has advanced dramatically in the last ten years. For ease of use, smartphone manufacturers have merged fingerprint unlock with face recognition technologies. The biometric authentication mechanism eliminates the need for password inputs.

Strong authentication will become more widespread outside onboarding and work for government services, but it will find a home in payments, where real-time transfers are becoming more common. There is no need to reverse real-time transactions – it depends entirely on risk models becomes a mistake.

LoginID has created a FIDO/FIDO2 certified transaction confirmation tool that serves as a digital signature to protect payments. Users need to enter their biometric to validate their transactions once they check out the merchant’s website. 

You may check out LoginID if you want to learn more about payment authentication. 

Biometric Technology: a brief history