Biometrics

The biometric fingerprint scanner and the technology that accompanies it have become much more advanced in recent years. Biometric fingerprint scanners are becoming more common in today's society. No longer a thing of imagination, science fiction, and comic books, the biometric fingerprint scanner and technology can be found in any number of items that are finding their way into commercial buildings, businesses, and residences throughout America and the rest of the Western world.

With all of the biometric fingerprint scanner door locks, safes, computer protections, and time clocks combined with dropping prices, interest in the biometric fingerprint scanner is growing at an unprecedented rate. With all of the press that these scanners are getting, as well as the security issues that keep rising up out of the wood work, there is no doubt that more people want to know just how the biometric fingerprint scanner works.

How a biometric fingerprint scanner works is based on what type of scanner it is. Different scanners work in different ways. There are two types of the biometric fingerprint scanner in development and on the market today. The more common and less expensive type of biometric fingerprint scanner is an optical scanner. The other, more expensive type of biometric fingerprint scanner is the capacitance scanner.

The optical biometric fingerprint scanner is the most common and the type that most people think of when they think of biometric fingerprint scanners. The optical biometric fingerprint scanner uses a charge coupled device (CDD) to capture an image of the fingerprint. This is the same technology used in digital cameras and video recorders to capture images. Based on the lightness or darkness of the image, as well as the depth, the scanner will either accept or reject the image.

The capacitance biometric fingerprint scanner is the other, less common type of scanner, and is the type that is most often showed in science fiction television shows and films. This biometric fingerprint scanner uses electricity to take an impression of the fingerprint. This type of biometric fingerprint scanner is more secure, as it is harder to trick with fake fingerprint images such as gelatin or carbon copies.

In either case, the biometric fingerprint scanner uses the image captured to compare it with other fingerprint impressions taken and stored in the memory as acceptable fingerprints. If the fingerprint is not found in the system, it will reject the image and will not perform the requested task, such as unlocking a door or booting up a computer. However, the way that the images are stored is the source of the worries about computer hackers and security.

You see, images and letters are stored on a computer through a series of numbers. If an experienced hacker knowledgeable and up to date on today's technology gets into your system, it is possible for the fingerprint scanner, regardless of the type of scanner, to be tricked. However, this would take a very knowledgeable computer hacking expert, which is not likely to be found in the average thug who will commit theft or burglary.