Baseline Study of COVID-19 and Biometric Technologies

Abstract

COVID-19 is a pathogenic viral infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and has spread to several countries of the world resulting in economic hardship and travel restrictions. This paper presents findings on the baseline study of COVID-19 and biometric technologies. The study included succinct discussions on biometric technologies prior to and since outbreak of COVID-19 and an online survey involving 2438 randomly selected individuals via questionnaire that centered on the world's economy with daily application of biometric technologies. The questionnaire featured indices on biometric technologies and global security, the rating of each biometric mode in the global security performance scale among others. Analysis of data from the survey established the paradigm shift in biometric applications from contact-based to contact-free since the outbreak of the disease, low risk level between COVID-19 and biometric technologies and diminishing cash flow in biometric market.