Improved algorithms used in facial recognition software programs have improved the success of such technology by up to ten times since 2002, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) said in a report,”Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) 2006 and the Iris Challenge Evaluation (ICE) 2006 Large-Scale Results” issued March 29.
NIST indicated that the study for the first time set benchmarks for iris recognition technology that will allow progress of that technology to be measured and in addition for the first time compared iris recognition with two dimensional and three dimensional face recognition technologies.
NIST also indicated its study for the first time also directly compared the accuracy of face recognition evaluation by humans and computer programs. Seven of the algorithms studied by NIST showed comparable or better results than humans in false alarm rates for images taken in differing lighting conditions.
I enjoyed reading about the details and comparisons. I was somewhat surprised that it did not discuss the privacy implications; but then again, on second thought the lack of such discussion in this type of report is probably to be expected.
The report is 56 pages long; an interesting read!
Tags: awareness and training, biometrics, corporate governance, Information Security, IT compliance, NIST, privacy