The Progress of Biometrics

• By Albert Nissimoff
• Jul 29, 2025

Biometrics applications for security, workplace time clocks, and access control authentication have advanced rapidly, especially over the past 25 years. Innovations in facial identification have made some of the most dramatic recent strides.

Once limited to large corporate and government sites that required the highest level of security and could justify the cost, biometric technology has become much more practical, affordable, and trustworthy for an increasingly wider array of useful and important purposes.

Consider how our unique fingerprints now unlock mobile devices and laptops; our distinctive faces let us into our phones and through access-controlled doors; our voices give us hands-free ways to play music and find places; and iris scans help ensure the tightest security for airport, border control, healthcare, and law enforcement operations – just to name a few examples.

A Quick Look Back: From Facial Recognition to Facial Identification
Some might recall news stories from 2001 about the use of facial recognition at Super Bowl XXXV to capture images of attendees entering through turnstiles. The objective for law enforcement monitoring the flow was to compare the facial scans with a database of images of known criminals and terrorist suspects to root out threats.

Although it was an endeavor with the best of intentions, it turned out to be unwieldy to manage and, as reported soon after, did not lead to any arrests despite the system recognizing some potential matches. The effort also generated a bit of controversy. Most people were not as accustomed to the presence of video cameras as they are now. Nor were those coming to the event aware they were even being scanned. In fact, they were not familiar with facial recognition or its potential much if at all during that time.

Fast-forward to today where there is an important distinction between facial recognition technology and facial identification technology, the latter of which is most widely used for access control. While the Super Bowl example was primarily an undercover law enforcement operation, those using facial identification to enter secured areas today do so willingly.

Once informed about the application and its benefits, users now freely give their consent in exchange for this faster, easier, non-contact access control solution. What is more unique as an individualized credential than a person’s face, which cannot be lost, replicated or stolen?

From Distinct Fingerprints to One-of-a-Kind Faces
It is interesting to look back on why and how quickly innovative uses for biometrics technology have developed over the past few decades – a brief period of time. A good example is what happened in Brazil 20 years ago when companies there realized they were facing a growing problem with time and attendance (T&A) tracking.

Card credentials were widely in use for T&A in that country at the time, which worked well initially. Then a trend emerged where employees would take turns giving their cards to co-workers to clock in and out for them so they could covertly take unauthorized time off. The more pervasive the problem became, the more productivity and quality declined.

This spurred the urgent need for an alternative solution. For one company in Brazil that was already immersed in developing biometrics technology, replacing cards with the unique characteristics of fingerprints became the answer. This led to the rapid development of a low-cost yet robust fingerprint authentication product that could be consistently trusted for T&A tracking.

Up until then, fingerprints were primarily used for crime solving and no one really envisioned them being used in work settings for time and attendance, much less access control. However, by 2016 that Brazilian company had become a leading brand not only in time and attendance, but also in fingerprint applications for access control.

COVID-19 Changes the Face of Biometrics
Then the pandemic hit in 2020. Suddenly, fingerprint and other contact forms of identification were in jeopardy. No one wanted to touch anything. Serendipitously, the acceleration of deep learning and AI saw a huge shift during the pandemic and resulted in algorithms that could reliably identify the millions of distinguishing facial features that exist across the world.

The outcome. within a year, the innovative company that had so much success with fingerprint access control now had an extremely effective facial identification product that continues to advance and thrive as a highly effective and convenient access control solution to this day.

In fact, its popularity and potential led to the organization being acquired by a major opening solutions company which has opened the doors to beneficial opportunities in collaboration with the other dynamic brands, solutions, and products that are part of the business.

Expanding Applications
Contributing to the success of these facial identification solutions is the fact that they are designed to fit the needs and budgets of a wide spectrum of environments, including offices, warehouses, restaurants, retail spaces and beyond. Applications have also emerged for K-12, university, and healthcare settings – any area where it is challenging, impractical, or undesirable to carry a physical credential.

New applications surface frequently. For instance, facial identification devices have turned out to be ideal for school sports complexes, allowing athletes, coaches and staff to move seamlessly between fields or courts and workout facilities without needing to carry a key, card or mobile phone.

The same hands-free, contactless benefits apply elsewhere, enabling employees to access areas without having to fumble with credentials, especially when they already have their arms full, or are moving carts and other equipment between spaces.

While most end-user customers of facial identification technology may not require government-level security protocols, many do have a need for multi-factor authentication. Facial identification can add that extra layer of security in conjunction with other digital access solutions, such as card, QR code and mobile credential readers as well as PIN pads.

Innovation Continues
One of the latest facial identification devices now features two full HD cameras and advanced AI capabilities for critical face liveness detection. In addition, these enhanced products can now identify up to 100,000 faces, including those with facemasks, such as the kind worn to prevent contamination.

Security administrators report they also appreciate how larger 7-inch LCD touchscreens now available on such devices make navigation more intuitive, the configuration of access rules simpler, and reviewing reports easier and clearer. Connectivity choices like TCP/IP and USB, as well as an integrated SIP intercom option are also making installation more straightforward and integration more flexible.

The goal is to ensure customers have a seamless experience when using such products. As a result, over a thousand independent software vendors (ISVs), including names like Genetec, Software House, and many more, can integrate with this manufacturer’s ecosystem today thanks to their open API that makes the technology easy to integrate.

How it Works
While uses for biometrics like finger and palm prints are still out there, enrollment using such characteristics typically requires specific hardware in an HR department. Facial identification merely requires a valid image of a person’s face for enrollment. Even a clear selfie qualifies. Once received, an HR administrator can import it into the system, confirm it matches the person being onboarded, and enter the individual’s other official information. Once confirmed, the administrator can define and activate the access credentials remotely, securely, and privately.

How the facial identification device responds when someone walks up to it depends on the requirements of a company or organization. Facial identification terminals can be configured to wait for an authorized user to approach – this is a one-to-many protocol.

It is an extremely fast and easy experience. A person just approaches the reader, is immediately identified, and then walks through the opening as soon as the door quickly unlocks – all without stopping.

Some protocols require a person to show distinct intent (pausing to pose at the device) for the terminal to confirm an individual’s identity. Whatever level the system is set to, the camera in the device is not taking and storing a picture; it is simply using the image feed to match the face with the authorized user and credential parameters in its database.

It also senses (and requires) face liveness for authentication. In other words, it cannot be tricked by a photograph or other image source of a person’s likeness.

Overcoming Concerns
Five years ago, there were worries about how facial identification and recognition technology might have difficulty discerning facial characteristics of various nationalities and, therefore, prevent some people from being authenticated accurately causing them to be denied security and/or access clearance.

Fortunately, the company that’s been leading the way in the technology is in Brazil which has one of the most diverse populations in the world including the largest Japanese community outside of Japan, the largest Lebanese community outside Lebanon, and large Italian and German populations who came to the country in the early 20th century. As a result, the company was able to ensure their solution had the rich functionality to ethically and accurately identify people without bias.

That is why they have chosen Paravision AI technology for their facial identification solutions. In fact, NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, ranks Paravision number one in face recognition accuracy across demographics.

Bringing a Smile to the Face of Biometrics
As mentioned at the beginning, biometrics technology and facial identification have indeed come remarkably far in just a brief time, especially the last 20-plus years. Not only is the progress inspiring for those within the access control industry, but it is proving to be exciting as an extremely convenient, safe and secure solution for the growing number of people who now enjoy the experience and benefits of using it.