The eye has it for ATM security

<p>HANNOVER, Germany – Diebold has debuted a biometric iris recognition ATM that makes a PIN obsolete during transactions during a recent CeBIT trade show here. The technology was provided by the Netherlands-based Johan Ensched Security Solutions, and has never turned up a false match. According to a Diebold release, the unique pattern within the iris, with 266 measurable characteristics, is perhaps an individual’s single most distinguishing physical characteristic. Iris verification compares the iris, which is the colored part of the eye, with a digitally pre-stored code of the iris. Consumers would first enroll and have their irises scanned at their financial institution branch and placed on a chip card. At the time of the transaction, an internal camera takes a picture of the user’s iris and compares it to iris data stored on the chip card. If they match, access to the ATM is granted. The camera can photograph the iris through glasses, contact lenses and most sunglasses, with verification typically requiring less than one second.</p>