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21 October 2005 Fingerprints fail for under-sixesFingerprint-based biometric technology is impractical for children under the age of six, according to research by TNO, the Dutch statutory technology research organisation. TNO found that facial recognition can be used for young children, although with adaptations to standard hardware. Ruud van Munster, TNO senior project manager for security and biometrics, told the Biometrics 2005 conference in Westminster yesterday (20 October) that there was almost no previous information available on whether biometrics could be taken from children. However, he said: “In the EU, there is a resolution in which it is stated there will be biometrics in passports and travel documents, and there is no exception for age.” This will apply 36 months after the EU issues technical standards. TNO carried out research on a relatively small sample of 161 children aged from birth to 12, with at least five children for each year of age. Fingerprints and facial images were successfully taken from all the children aged seven and over, with success defined by a NIST quality check for fingerprints and a biometric verification check for the facial image. But no infants from birth to two years old could be enrolled for fingerprints, along with just 8% of three-year-olds. “Babies can really make a very strong fist,” van Munster commented. The fingerprint success rate rose with age, to 50% of four-year-olds, 67% of five-year-olds and 89% of six-year-olds. Van Munster said that results were improved by wiping children’s fingers with a wet cloth to remove stickiness, then a dry one, to get the best level of humidity. Facial images were much more successful, taken with 77% success for the group from birth to two, and at least 89% from all age bands above three years. Van Munster said that a trusted person needed to be present to reassure children, adding that TNO had used hand-puppets to get the subjects to look at the camera. He said that a greater degree of zoom should be used to get a large enough facial image, and recommended a fast shutter speed: “Because of the mobility of young people, we had blurred images,” he said. © SA Mathieson 2005.
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