Perception of government employees on the use of biometric technology in determining a person’s ethnic group in Nigeria

Abstract

Selected biometric technologies such as iris, face, gait, voice, etc. are widely used for the recognition of individuals. This paper presents a biometric technology perception by members of staff from government agencies in Nigeria, namely: the National Identity Management Commission and Joint Admission Matriculation Board, on the use of selected technology for ethnicity recognition. The study was conducted using the quantitative method. Data were collected from the staff of selected agencies. Fingerprint, facial, and iris biometrics were selected for this experiment. Using the modified Technology Acceptance Model framework, results from the experiment showed the perception of staff on selected technologies in ethnicity recognition. Results show that technology enhanced job effectiveness, the majority of respondents agreed that fingerprint and facial biometrics would improve ethnicity detection; hence they were a popular choice for ethnicity recognition. The study showed that determining ethnicity from iris biometric would be difficult as the majority do not see the iris as a means of identifying a particular ethnic group. Five different hypotheses were tested to determine compatibility, ease of use, and attitude towards use (ATU) of the selected technology. Results showed that selected biometrics can effectively determine an ethnic group with a significance value at 0.000.