Biometrics and Ethics

Computer technology brought upon many unexpected ethical issues. When discussing about ethics, we need to talk about the importance of computers and be able to answer questions like: what is the reason for addressing the impact of computers on ethics? In his article “What is computer ethics?” Dr. James Moor analyzed and elaborated the very question. Dr. Moor begins his article by defining computer ethics. In his words, “computer ethics is the analysis of the nature and social impact of computer technology and the corresponding formulation and justification of politics for the ethical use of such technology” (James Moor, 1985). Moor indicated that as computer technology became more entwined with people and their everyday activities, the ethical challenges would become more difficult to conceptualize and do not lend themselves to the development of a static set of rules (Moor, 1985).

I have taken up the research topic Biometrics and Ethics and would like to analyze how Biometric has become part of our everyday life and with it what are the ethical challenges human race faces. Biometrics is the statistical measure of biological beings; it is a system which is used in identifying a person by verifying a physical characteristic or attribute. The reason for its existence is to provide a single computer system login that can immediately detect fraudulent attempts seeking unauthorized access. It is the application of technologies that uses physical traits such as hand geometry, facial and voice recognition, iris and retinal scans in order to verify or recognize a person’s identity. (BITE, n.d.)

Biometrics unique characteristics have made it important in many domains of identification and authentication. The use of finger p...

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