A Brief Literature Review and Survey of Adult Perceptions on Biometric Recognition for Infants and Toddlers

Over the past decade, analyses of biometric recognition for infant and toddler identification have emerged. These efforts are critical since existing child identification programs are solely utilized in missing children cases; such programs are not employed in the wider spectrum of societal issues that child identification efforts could help to resolve, such as baby swapping in hospitals, illegal adoption, and inadequate vaccination tracking. As such, this paper provides a brief literature review on biometric recognition for infants and toddlers. We cover the range of potential applications for biometric identification of infant and toddler-aged children, along with current research findings, especially those involving fingerprint recognition due to the permanence of fingerprint features and the practicality of implementing fingerprint recognition systems for younger children. In addition, we investigate the acceptability of biometric technologies for infants and toddlers by conducting an online survey (N = 133), wherein we gather the opinions of adults on the utility of biometric systems for young children, how these systems might help solve societal issues, and problems users may face if such a system were available. Key results show that while over half of respondents are comfortable with a biometric system for infants and toddlers, and parents in particular are more likely to view biometric recognition useful for helping to resolve societal issues than non-parents, data storage, privacy, and the child's inability to provide consent on their own are common concerns.