Biometric Solutions as Privacy Enhancing Technologies

This research is focused on giving a comprehensive overview of the secure biometric systems field, analysing it from privacy enhancing technology (PET) perspective. The widespread use of biometric systems, the nature of the shared data, the kinds of use cases and the applications introduce privacy risks. Along these line, we are trying to respond to the matters of: “Can really biometrics be characterized as PETs ?” and “In which extent can biometrics be considered as private friendly?” The paper covers different opinions on the major question: “Are biometrics a protection mechanism of individual privacy?” The available related literature is discussed, while very recent advances, a number of approaches for biometrics as PETs are presented and the privacy interactive needs of the users with other units are evaluated. As an illustration, a situation based on on-line biometric access control is figured, where the attitude of the implicated parties is examined. The aim of this multidisciplinary work is to clarify the studies on how to develop and ensure the privacy in crypto-biometric techniques and contribute to efforts for addressing societal impacts of modern technological issues.