XML-Based Biometric Standard in Works

A group that works to establish open interoperability standards on Thursday announced that it has formed a committee to define an XML schema for biometrics.

The XML Common Biometric Format Technical Committee, under the aegis of OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), will work to create a standard that can be used in any biometric application, be it an iris scanner, fingerprint scanner or facial-recognition software. The standard will define a set of XML encodings for the Common Biometric Exchange File Format, which is a draft of the American National Standards Institute.

“Existing biometric standards use binary encoding formats, which severely limit their use in XML systems and applications,” said Phillip Griffin, chair of the new committee. “XCBF will provide a standard way for biometric functions to be done using XML.”

Biometrics, long the stuff of spy movies and science fiction novels, have gained quite a bit of attention in the last few months as airports, federal agencies and large corporations move to step up their physical and information security in the wake of last falls terrorist attacks.

Membership on the committee is open to any vendor or individual who has an interest in the subject.