http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/10/26/school.biometrics.ap/index.html
How long before the Fingerprint SIF object is introduced?
One question might be: Is biometric signature information really interoperable? Probably only if two different applications in the zone were using the same hardware. I think it's more likely that a school could purchase biometric scanners such as this and implement it on top of some other shared authentication service such as a SIF-Aware SAML implementation.
For example, a fingerprint scanner at the classroom door may automatically mark a student as present in a classroom. The fingerprint scanner, which is SIF-Aware sends the attendance record to the zone where it is picked up by the Gradebook application. The classroom teacher then finalizes the attendance, which sends the attendance record to the SIS, again through SIF.
In the computer lab, students could sign in to their workstation using a fingerprint scanner, which then authenticates them with the SAML provider on the network. Once authenticated, the student has the ability to log into multiple local and intranet applications using a single sign on profile based on SAML, all without entering a password. Imagine being able to assert from an application level that a student is who they say are based on biometric proof rather than a password, which can be easily shared with friends who are willing to log in and take a quiz for them.
Posted
11-01-2006 18:30
by
Andrew Elmhorst