Why Biometric Authentication Is the Future of Identity Security
26 August 2025
Why Biometric Authentication Is the Future of Identity Security
26 August 2025
As passwords fade into the background, biometric authentication is quickly becoming the new gold standard for verifying and authenticating identity online. From unlocking phones to confirming payments, using your face or fingerprint is no longer just a convenience feature – it’s central to protecting both people and businesses.
In this blog, we’ll explore what biometric authentication really means, how it works, and why it’s one of the most secure and scalable ways to manage digital identity.
This is part of our educational series to help businesses understand the technologies shaping the future of authentication.
What is Biometric Authentication?
Biometric authentication is the process of verifying or authenticating a user’s identity using their unique physical traits. This could be your face, fingerprint, voice, or even the way you move.
Typically it’s used during the identity verification (IDV) process - checking a person’s face against a verified document - or identity authentication - checking a person’s face against the one captured during identity verification.
These traits fall into the category of “something you are” – one of the core pillars of multi-factor authentication (MFA). Unlike passwords or codes, they can’t be forgotten, phished, or guessed.
Biometric methods commonly used in authentication today include:
- Facial recognition.
- Fingerprint scanning.
- Voice recognition.
- Iris and retina scans.
- Behavioral biometrics (typing rhythm, gait analysis).
Out of all of these, facial recognition is the most widely adopted across smartphones, financial services, and customer-facing platforms. It’s fast, contactless, and now more secure than ever.
How Biometric Authentication Works
Every biometric system follows a few basic steps:
- Capture – The system takes a live image or recording of a biometric trait (like your face).
- Extract – It then analyses specific features, such as the distance between your eyes or the shape of your jawline.
- Convert – These features are converted into a digital template or key.
- Compare – During login, the system compares a new live sample with the stored reference.
- Verify – If the match is strong enough, access is granted.
Some systems store raw biometric templates, but this creates security and privacy risks. Others, like Keyless, convert the biometric data into a cryptographic key and never store the biometric itself – offering strong privacy protection by design.
Why Biometrics are Better than Passwords
Here’s why biometric authentication is quickly replacing traditional methods like passwords and OTPs:
1. They’re unique to each user
No two people share the same face, fingerprint, or iris. This makes biometric authentication highly resistant to impersonation, especially when combined with liveness detection to ensure the user is physically present and not a photo or video.
2. They can’t be phished
Unlike passwords or SMS codes, biometrics aren’t stored in the cloud in their raw form (at least in privacy-focused systems) and can’t be sent across the internet. This makes them far more resistant to phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks.
3. They reduce friction
No typing. No remembering. Just look at your camera or tap your fingerprint sensor. Users enjoy faster, smoother logins – particularly on mobile.
4. They support privacy by design
With modern techniques like Zero-Knowledge Biometrics and on-device verification, biometric systems can now verify users without storing or exposing any sensitive data. That makes them compliant with regulations like GDPR and PSD2/3
Where Biometrics Are Being Used Today
Biometric authentication has already been adopted across several sectors and use cases:
Financial services
Banks are using biometrics for login, payment authorisation, and account recovery – all while meeting Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) requirements under PSD2 and the emerging PSD3. When combined with device binding, biometric systems can deliver passwordless MFA that is phishing-resistant and privacy-preserving.
Mobile and consumer devices
Facial recognition is now standard on most smartphones. It’s used to unlock devices, make payments, and sign into apps – with user consent and on-device verification keeping data relatively safe.
Workforce authentication
Organisations are using facial biometrics to secure employee access to internal systems, VPNs, and SaaS platforms – replacing traditional logins with seamless, passwordless alternatives.
Remote identity verification
Biometrics play a key role in onboarding and Know Your Customer (KYC) checks. A user can prove who they are by matching a live facial scan to the photo on an ID document – without needing to visit a branch or office.
Account recovery and fraud prevention
When accounts are compromised, biometric re-verification provides a strong way to confirm identity without relying on SMS OTPs or email links – which can be intercepted or spoofed.
Addressing Common Concerns with Biometrics
While biometric authentication is highly secure, it’s not without concerns. Here are some common objections – and how modern systems are solving them:
What if someone uses a photo or a deepfake?
Advanced biometric systems include liveness detection, which checks for signs that the person is alive – like blinking, movement, or 3D depth. This makes spoofing attacks with photos or masks far less effective.
What if my biometric data is stolen?
This depends on how the data is stored. Keyless and other privacy-first providers use techniques like Zero-Knowledge Biometrics, where biometric templates are not stored or shared at all, either on the device or the cloud. If there’s no stored data, there’s nothing to steal.
What if I change my appearance?
Modern systems adapt to natural changes in appearance – like growing a beard, changing hairstyles, or aging – without needing frequent re-enrollment. Keyless, for example, trains its biometric models on a wide range of conditions and image types to ensure high accuracy over time.
Biometric Authentication and Compliance
In Europe and other regulated regions, authentication methods must meet legal requirements for user consent, data minimisation, and strong customer authentication.
Biometric systems that are FIDO certified, ISO 30107-compliant, and privacy-preserving by design can help organisations meet these rules while reducing risk and improving experience.
Biometric MFA is also a recommended method under frameworks like NIST SP 800-63 in the US and EBA’s RTS in Europe.
Why Keyless Biometrics Are Different
Keyless offers a biometric authentication system designed for both privacy and performance.
Crucially, we do not just offer biometric authentication. Instead, we offer biometric multi-factor authentication.
- No biometric data is stored – instead, we generate and match cryptographic keys using facial recognition and device signals.
- Passive liveness detection runs in under 300 milliseconds, detecting spoofs without the need for awkward gestures.
- Device binding ensures login attempts come from devices that were enrolled by the user, offering (biometric multi-factor authentication instead of just authentication).
Keyless is FIDO-certified, ISO 30107-compliant, and trusted by some of the world’s largest financial institutions.
Final Thoughts: Biometrics Are the Future of Digital Identity
Passwords are easy to steal, reuse, and forget. Biometrics offer a stronger, faster, and more user-friendly alternative – one that protects both people and businesses from the growing threat of cybercrime.
Whether you're a bank, enterprise, or platform with a large user base, biometric authentication is one of the most effective ways to modernise your security while improving the user journey.
Keyless is helping organisations move to a world where login is as simple as looking into a camera – and just as secure as it needs to be.
Want to see biometric authentication in action?
Request your 3-minute on-demand personalised demo today.
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