Is Cloud-Based Authentication, The Future of Biometrics?

Cloud computing is a technique for delivering on-demand computing services in which data retrieved from the Internet through web-based tools and applications. It facilitates us to save our files to a remote database rather than keep it on a hard drive or local storage device and it opposed to a direct connection to a server.
It means, cloud computing enables user to access those software and application from the remote location, which hosts by the third party. With unique features of cloud computing, many organizations are considering cloud computing as cost-effective, secure, and reliable, solution for their need.
Taking Biometric to Cloud
In the last decade, adoption of biometrics in the various field has grown frequently because biometric provide the secure environment for access control and known as the shortest way to check the authenticity of the user. Due to the use of unique physiological and behavioral characteristics, countries have taken up biometrics as a national ID (Like Aadhar in India). Thus, biometric is having a significant place in cloud computing and provide security to the entire service.
When we talk about the on-device biometric authentication, it can only link a user to a particular device. But in case of cloud-based biometric authentication, it links a user “to a Unique Verifiable Identity (UVI), which is device and platform independent”. Cloud-based biometrics can also be supported by the continuous, passive authentication offered by behavioral biometrics. It is accessible anytime, anywhere and reduced the costs that are contributing to strong growth projections for biometrics as a service. It also enhanced the security of different access control applications such as payroll application, HRMS, and other mobile applications.
Benefits of Cloud-based Biometric Identification Management
Cloud computing allows you to get convenient network access and its services. So, slowly and steadily, companies are going to adopt cloud platform which is integrated with biometric identification and add more security feature, sufficient amounts of storage, parallel processing capabilities, and scalability of the technology into their system. The following are some benefits of cloud-based biometric identification management:

• Biometric identification management systems consisting of a lot of data related to fingerprint, facial, DNA, voice, palm print, iris etc. So, it requires a necessary storage capacity to manage it and to get easy access. When this biometrics system links with the cloud platform, it provides the sufficient amount of storage that handles the data in a cost-effective way.
• Switching to cloud-based biometric systems reduce the cost of hardware/ application needed, setting up or maintaining the cost involved in infrastructure. For example, the cloud-based workforce management software, time and attendance software, payroll management software runs on a third party server, so you don't require dedicated resources to run the system. In this way, it also reduces the labor cost, paper cost, and time to do calculations. This considerably brings down the burden of start-up companies.
• Cloud-based biometric systems facilitate “parallel processing capabilities” which allow several people the ability to work with the same data simultaneously.
• Cloud-based biometric systems include spaces, access control applications, mobile applications, secure environment, and also reduces the system complexity that gives a faster identification than traditional biometric technology.
• Cloud-based biometric systems can be accessed from multiple devices like mobiles, laptops, tablets, and desktops etc.

The cloud-based biometric system offers alluring deployment possibilities. These possibilities are capable of providing new horizons of next-generation biometric technology and also offering new advancement for the existing generation of biometric systems.