It is not only the large corporations and individual users that are looking into what the future will hold for use of biometric encryption in society.  The U.S. government has felt that the technology is important enough to form a panel of experts to study the latest developments in the industry and their potential government applications.  The Biometric Consortium was chartered by the National Security Policy Board through the Facilities Protection Committee to help develop, test and evaluate biometric devices on behalf of the Department of Defense.

    There already exist several pilot programs within the federal government where biometric devices are being utilized as a means of identification and verification.  The government utilizes biometric verification for use in access to computer networks as well as physical access to facilities.  There are some programs in place that use biometrics to monitor home incarceration, and the largest use of biometric controls by the federal government is for monitoring entitlements benefits.  Under this program the government requires benefit recipients, such as those applying for welfare benefits, to utilize biometric identification to obtain their funds, which helps to reduce the amount of fraud that can occur in these programs.

    Some other programs the government uses biometrics with are the Immigration and Naturalization Service's (INS) Passenger Accelerated Service System (INPASS) which allows frequent visitors to the United States to quickly pass through inspection points utilizing hand geometry as the biometric.  Along the Canadian border the government uses a system called CANPASS that is similar to the INPASS system but uses fingerprint biometrics instead.  Another recent use of fingerprint biometrics by state governments has been to reduce the amount of counterfeiting drivers licenses by placing encrypted fingerprints on the license.  One last program the government is examining the use of biometrics with is in dispensing health care benefits over the web where the biometric encryption would be used to help to reduce fraud.

    The level of interest the government is giving to biometrics today helps to stress the importance it foresees the role this technology will play in the future.