Biometrics for an ageing society societal and ethical factors in biometrics and ageing

By the middle of the twenty-first century around one third of the European population will be aged 65 or over. This poses two main challenges to biometrics. First, the quality of an image capturable from an older person is likely to be inferior to that of a younger person, leading to increased failure to capture or failure to enroll rates. Second, since biometric features alter over time, `within-person variation' and `template ageing' lead to significant system performance degradation. As society ages the need for solutions becomes increasingly urgent. This paper addresses a major societal and ethical issue this need provokes.