Securing E-Governance Services through Biometrics

E-governance is the application of information & communication technologies to transform the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of informational & transactional exchanges with in government, between government & government agencies of National, State, Municipal & Local levels, citizen & businesses, and to empower citizens through access & use of information. Pervasive services of virtual communities and digital governments are achievable only if trust, privacy and security can be secured and strengthened. To meet these requirements, mechanisms, which provide secure management of information and facilities without compromising privacy and civil rights, have to be devised. The success of such mechanisms relies on effective identity authentication. While traditional security measure such as PINs and passwords may be forgotten, stolen, or cracked, biometrics provides authentication mechanisms based on unique human physiological and behavioural characteristics that can be used to identify an individual or authenticate the claimed identity of an individual, but cannot be easily duplicated or forged. This paper discusses the role of biometric authentication in e-governance environment to provide services efficiently and securely over the internet.