+8.1.4 Usability Considerations for Biometrics

8.1.4 Usability Considerations for Biometrics

This section provides a high-level overview of general usability considerations for biometrics. A more detailed discussion of biometric usability can be found in Usability & Biometrics, Ensuring Successful Biometric Systems [UsabilityBiometrics].

User familiarity and practice with the device improve performance for all modalities. Device affordances (i.e., properties of a device that allow a user to perform an action), feedback, and clear instructions are critical to a user’s success with the biometric device. For example, provide clear instructions on the required actions for liveness detection. Ideally, users can select the modality that they are most comfortable with for their second authentication factor. Various user populations may be more comfortable, familiar with, and accepting of some biometric modalities than others. Provide meaningful feedback on the number of remaining allowed attempts. For example, for rate limiting (i.e., throttling), inform users of the time period they have to wait until their next attempt.

Typical Usage

The three biometric modalities that are most commonly used for authentication are fingerprint, facial comparison, and iris comparison.

Fingerprint usability considerations:
Users have to remember which fingers they used for initial enrollment.
The amount of moisture on the finger affects the sensor’s ability for successful capture.
Additional factors that influence fingerprint capture quality include age, sex, and occupation (e.g., users who handle chemicals or work extensively with their hands may have degraded friction ridges).
Facial comparison usability considerations:
Users have to remember whether they wore any artifacts (e.g., glasses) during enrollment, which affects facial recognition accuracy.
Differences in environmental lighting conditions may affect facial recognition accuracy.
Facial expressions affect facial recognition accuracy (e.g., smiling versus a neutral expression).
Facial poses affect facial recognition accuracy (e.g., looking down or away from the camera).
Iris comparison usability considerations:
Wearing colored contacts may affect iris recognition accuracy.
Users who have had eye surgery may need to re-enroll after surgery.
Differences in environmental lighting conditions may affect iris recognition accuracy, especially for certain iris colors.

Intermittent Events

Since biometrics are only permitted as a second factor for multi-factor authentication, usability considerations for intermittent events with the primary factor still apply. Intermittent events that may affect recognition accuracy using biometrics include:

Degraded fingerprints or finger injuries
Dirty, dry, or wet hands
Wearing gloves or a mask
Natural facial or weight changes over time
Eye surgery

Across all biometric modalities, usability considerations for intermittent events include the following:

An alternative authentication method must be readily available and clearly communicated. Users should never be required to attempt biometric authentication and should be permitted to use a password as an alternative second factor.
There should be provisions for technical assistance:
Clearly communicate information on how and where to acquire technical assistance. For example, provide users with a link to an online self-service feature or a phone number for help desk support. Ideally, provide sufficient information to enable users to recover from intermittent events on their own without outside intervention.
Inform users of factors that may affect the sensitivity of the biometric sensor (e.g., cleanliness of the sensor).

1. Übersicht

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1.1 Referenzen

1.2 Identifizierte Anforderungen

1.3 Zugehörige Regulierungen

2. Identifizierte Anforderungen

Anforderungen
Quelle Anforderung

3. Zugehörige Regulierungen

Regulierungen
Quelle Regulierung
  • NIST -

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