Reviewing Standards and Guidelines

When choosing biometric characteristic(s) and modality(ies) to implement, it will be helpful to research and review the various standards and guidelines available at the country, regional, or global level.18,20 For example, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has published Standards for Biometric Technologies and has additional resources available on current projects and programs, publications, and software.21 In addition, the Biometrics Institute provides definitions and a resource repository for various topics in biometrics including providing links to standards throughout the world.20 Lastly, there are resources dedicated to defining terms, such as an overview of biometric concepts and terms by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

Guidelines from biometric technology manufacturers and/or software companies also will contain information to consider.

For example, Côte d’Ivoire shared their use of fingerprint scanner manufacturer and ISO guidelines to format the fingerprint template file for their biometric system.14 In addition, Nigeria, who utilizes different fingerprint readers, took the time to configure the biometric system and reviewed manufacturer guidelines to ensure information collected would be consistent when storing and retrieving from databases.13

Resources created based on reviews and lessons learned are also available and can include suggested steps to take for the implementation of biometrics.

For example, the Appendix - Responsibilities, Lifecycles, Skills in A Responsible Biometric Deployment Handbook outlines steps to consider when implementing biometrics. Each step lists actions to take before, during, and after; who is responsible; skills required; design and implementation considerations; and additional notes.18

Additionally, the handbook suggests resources from the following organizations that can be reviewed for standards and guidelines that can be used for planning implementation steps: “ICRC, Oxfam, The Engine Room, UNHCR, UNICEF, the Biometric Institute, and others”.18