Microsoft Word fidis-wp2-de models doc

FIDIS 

Future of Identity in the Information Society (No. 507512)

 

D2.3 

  

[Final], Version: 2.0 

File: fidis-wp2-del2.3.models.doc 

Page 24 

 

Such specifications include: LDAP (directory services); vCard (the digital business card); 

Liberty Alliance (and Microsoft Passport); JXDM (global Justice mark-up language). 

More specifically, LDAP schema includes the “identification attributes” password and user 

certificate, and JXDM (used in the US) includes an attribute that is used to specify many (14) 

assigned ids of a person (SSNID, TaxID, DriverLicenseID, FBIID, StateID, AFISID, 

OtherID, RegisteredOffenderIndicator, FirearmSalesDisqualifiedIndicator, LicenseID, 

GeneralLedgerID, PersonHumanResourcesID, PersonVendorID, PersonNationalID). 

Finally, it is important to mention biometrics attributes (presented in the next section), whose 

function is essentially to contribute towards identification. 

 

3.3  Biological characteristics (biometrics, medical) 

3.3.1 Description 

The biological attributes represent the category that is used to represent the biological (or 

physiological) characteristics of a person. The representation of the biological characteristics 

can be done for several reasons such as identification, verification (access control), criminal 

investigation or healthcare. 

 

Biometrical information 

The first category of attributes that have already been mentioned is related to the 

identification of the person and includes all the biometrical information. The underlying 

premise is that some of the biological characteristics are permanent, intimately associated to 

the person, difficult to forge and unique enough so that they can be used for identification 

purpose. For instance they can be used to link a person to a passport or, in the context of a 

criminal investigation, to link the presence of a person to the scene of a crime. 

The biometrical characteristics can vary considerably, and includes elements that are highly 

visible for the human (such as a Facial Features) or need some sophisticated mechanisms to 

be analysed (such as the DNA). These characteristics can either be physiological (passive), 

such as iris or face recognition or behavioural (active), such as lip movement, gait or 

keystroke dynamics. Within the physiological biometric methods we can distinguish between 

morphological methods (such as facial features, iris, fingerprint or palm geometry) and those 

being related to the senses (including voice, thermal patterns, body odour etc.). Biometric 

methods and their use for identification and verification are investigated further in FIDIS 

D3.2. 

 

Physiological & medical information (patient data) 

Another category of biological information is related to healthcare and includes the 

physiological characteristics that can be recorded in a medical  record. Examples of 

biological information that can be recorder include: blood characteristics (pressure, level of 

albumin, cholesterol, etc.), known disease, etc. 

It is important to mention that the use of these physiological characteristics can also be 

relevant outside of the medical domain, such as ability to practice a sport or to perform a job, 

insurance, etc., though in some case it raises a series of questions related to privacy protection 

. 

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FIDIS 

Future of Identity in the Information Society (No. 507512)

 

D2.3 

  

[Final], Version: 2.0 

File: fidis-wp2-del2.3.models.doc 

Page 25 

 

3.3.2  Examples of attributes 

 

•

 

Biometric 

o

 

Physiological (or passive)  

 

Morphology 

•

 

Facial features 

•

 

Fingerprint 

•

 

Palm geometry 

 

Senses 

•

 

Voice 

•

 

Body odour 

•

 

Thermal patterns 

 

Other 

•

 

DNA 

o

 

Behavioural (or active) 

 

Gait 

 

Lip movement 

 

Keystroke dynamics 

•

 

Physiological and medical 

o

 

Physiology 

 

Sex 

 

Weight 

 

Length 

 

Strength 

 

Biological clock (morning / evening) 

o

 

State 

 

Awake / asleep 

o

 

Health characteristics 

 

Known diseases 

 

Vaccinations 

o

 

Health instant state 

 

Blood pressure 

 

Temperature of the body 

 

3.3.3 Application domains 

The main application domains of biological characteristics are security (authentication / 

verification), and healthcare. 

3.3.4  Relevant standards and specifications 

Biometrics 

Certain standards exist that can be used to specify biometrical characteristics, especially 

concerning the way processed biometric data, so called ‘templates’, are stored. The template 

formats depend highly on the algorithms used to process the ‘raw’ biometric data (such as a 

digital photo, in a defined digital format, of a face or iris). In some cases the algorithms are 

protected by patents. These aspects are further described in FIDIS D3.2.  

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