BioSec Project: Biometric data to support secure and trusted identification.

In December 2003 the BioSec project, co-funded by the VI Framework Programme of the European Commission, started its two years life cycle with the purpose to consolidate and progress research on biometric technologies.

Biometric technologies provide automated means to identify a subject according to physiological or psychological features. These technologies have a high potential to guarantee the identity of the individuals and they appear as the key technologies to provide trust and secure access to private information. Nevertheless, this technology is not completely consolidated nor accessible with the required features in security, trust and confidence to the public nowadays. This is due to several factors such as the lack of standards defining the communication and data models to guarantee the security and integrity of the exchanged information, the lack of maturity of the technology with the consequent vulnerability to fake and security attacks, the lack of technological solutions to guarantee the privacy and ownership of the biometric data, or the incompatibility among biometric components, devices, systems, and data available in the market. All these factors contribute to a low usability and acceptance by the citizens.
BioSec has the challenge to solve these problems on working in several clearly defined action lines. BioSec is the project that will bring deployment of a European-wide approach to biometric technologies for security applications. It has the support of the European Commission and a consortium, led by Telefónica I+D, with twenty three organisations from nine countries (Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Germany, Israel, Italy, Poland and Spain). This consortium constitutes a critical mass in the Biometric area including big companies like Siemens, Telefonica, Grupo ETRA, Atmel and G&D, biometric hardware and software producers, prestigious universities and SMEs with large experiences in the field of biometrics.
BioSec will develop biometric technologies for secure smart card and USB token based digital identification systems, which provide the levels of trust and confidence necessary for citizens to interact both physically or remotely with any organisation or service requiring secure and authenticated identification. It will provide a digital me for the European citizen.
From the technological point of view, BioSec will provide improved performance to: novel 3D face and hand method, noise-cancellation based voice verification method, as well as with emphasis on multimodal biometrics, including face-voice and iris-finger combinations used together with advanced classification methodology. Fake-resistive methods will be developed for high security fingerprint and iris verification.
In order to put the biometric technologies in the final users hands the citizen and increase their confidence in them, the results of the research activities to be carried out in BioSec are directed to produce personal biometric storage on smart cards and personal privacy portable devices. New ID tokens will be addressed on BioSec objectives. Interoperable token devices, integrating biometric information (of any modality that is in BioSec agenda) in a secure and tamper-free solution will enable a new generation of devices that will transform the user privacy concept into a real concept, under user control.
As BioSec is a Research Technology and Development project on a pan-European scope, it has defined an efficient strategy for the wider dissemination of its results and achievements. Several communication channels have been established to be present at different levels: creation of an observatory on those standardisation activities related to the biometric technologies, creation of a web site with updated information on the project progress (http://www.biosec.org) organisation of bi-annual open workshops to present and discuss the project achievements, participation in scientific conferences and events, publication of articles and white papers, etc.BioSec Partners:,Telefonica Investigacion y Desarrollo S.A.U. (Spain); Sisaasiainministerio (Ministry of the Interior Finland); Finnair Plc (Finland); Tampereen Yliopisto: University of Tampere (Finland); VTT Electronics (Finland); Biometrika SRL (Italy); Universita Di Bologna (Italy); Etra I+D (Spain); Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain); Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Spain); Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (Spain); Ibermatica S.A. (Spain); Universitat zu Koln (Germany); MediaScore Gesellschaft fur Medien- und Kommunikationsforschung mbH (Germany); Siemens AG (Germany); Giesecke & Devrient Gmbh (Germany); ATMEL Grenoble S.A. (France); Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (Greece); Expertnet A.E. (Greece); Aristotle University Of Thessaloniki (Greece); VCON Telecommunications Ltd. (Israel); Naukowa i Akademicka Sie? Komputerowa: NASK (Poland); Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium)., ,CONTACTS,BioSec Office,E-mail: [e-mail] ,Website: http://www.biosec.org,or ,BioSec Project Coordinator,Orestes Sanchez,Telefonica I+D,Emilio Vargas, 6 ,28043 Madrid ,SPAIN,E-mail: [e-mail]

Countries

Belgium, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Israel, Italy, Poland