BIOMETRICS
Eye of the beholder
The role of campus biometrics by Mohammed Murad, vice president global development and sales for Iris ID
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iometrics are changing the way higher education campuses handle a variety of tasks, from securing buildings to making bookstore purchases. The results are increased convenience, lower costs and greater satisfaction among all campus stakeholders. But let’s first take a look at what biometrics are replacing. For decades, colleges and universities secured doors with mechanical locks and keys. Although they create an effective barrier, they have major flaws. Keys can be lost or stolen. They can be copied again and again. It is even possible to take a photograph of a high-security key on a police officer’s belt to produce a perfect copy using a 3-D printer. Once a lock’s security has been
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compromised, it must be rekeyed in an expensive and time-intensive process. And then new keys must be cut and distributed. Key management can be a nightmare on a large campus with thousands of doors. Multiply that by tens of thousands of keys in the hands of students, faculty and staff and the margin for error grows exponentially. Within the last decade, campus administrators began trumpeting a one-card system. That uses plastic cards to replace keys and much more. The same cards that opened students’ dorm rooms could also be used to purchase food in the campus commons, complete cashless bookstore transactions and gain access to the recreation center. Of course, that required replacing locks
with card readers. However, like keys any card may be borrowed, lost or stolen. It’s much easier to replace a card than it is to cut new keys and rekey locks. However, administrators looking for a higher level of security add a second identifier – a biometric– as part of the access control system. The cost of cards – the plastic blanks, printers, ink – can add up quickly. The so-called “smart” cards include computer chips that make them up to five times more expensive than traditional proximity cards used on many campuses. Also, think of the costs to a university using any card-based system. Each year, administrators must create and issue thousands of new cards to incoming students and new employees. A newer technology replaces
