BIOMETRIC TERMS E

Eavesdropping
Surreptitiously obtaining data from an unknowing end user who is performing a legitimate function. An example involves having a hidden sensor co-located with the legitimate sensor.

EFTS - Electronic Fingerprint Transmission Specification
A document that specifies requirements to which agencies must adhere to communicate electronically with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). This specification facilitates information sharing and eliminates the delays associated with fingerprint cards.
Encryption
The act of transforming data into an unintelligible form so that it cannot be read by unauthorized individuals. A key or a password is used to decrypt (decode) the encrypted data.

End User
The individual who will interact with the system to enroll, to verify, or to identify.

Enrollment
The process of collecting a biometric sample from an end user, converting it into a biometric reference, and storing it in the biometric system’s database for later comparison.

Equal Error Rate (EER)
A statistic used to show biometric performance, typically when operating in the verification task. The EER is the location on a ROC or DET curve where the false accept rate and false reject rate (or one minus the verification rate {1-VR}) is equal, as illustrated below. In general, the lower the equal error rate value, the higher the accuracy of the biometric system. Note, however, that most operational systems are not set to operate at the “equal error rate” so the measure’s true usefulness is limited to comparing biometric system performance. The EER is
Sometimes referred to as the “Crossover Error Rate.”

Extraction
The process of converting a captured biometric sample into biometric data so that it can be compared to a reference.