Penn College News

Biometric Identification Topic for Campus Presentation

Thursday, March 17, 2005

A presentation on "The Secrets of Biometric Identification: What They Don't Want You to Know" will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, in the Mountain Laurel Room of Pennsylvania College of Technology's Thompson Professional Development Center.

Dr. James L. Wayman, director of Biometric Identification Research at San Jose (Calif.) State University and internationally recognized expert on biometric identification systems, will be the presenter.

Biometric technologies automatically can recognize people using behavioral or biological traits. (Facial, fingerprint and eye recognition are examples.) In TV shows and movies, the technologies work perfectly like magic, but, in reality, the process is difficult and error-prone. Dr. Wayman's presentation will review progress in the field over the past 40 years, talk about some successes and some disasters, and look at recent legislation calling for use of biometrics in passports and visas.

Arranged by Daniel P. Gill, associate professor of computer information technology in Penn College's School of Business and Computer Technologies, the program is free and open to the public and will begin with a 45-minute video on current information-privacy issues, followed by Dr. Wayman's talk.