This document:

—    establishes general principles for testing the performance of biometrics systems in terms of error rates and throughput rates for purposes including measurement of performance, prediction of performance, comparison of performance, and verifying conformance with specified performance requirements;

—    specifies performance metrics for biometric systems;

—    specifies requirements on the recording of test data and reporting of test results; and

—    specifies requirements on test protocols in order to:

—    reduce bias due to inappropriate data collection or analytic procedures;

—    help achieve the best estimate of field performance for the expended effort;

—    improve understanding of the limits of applicability of the test results.

This document is applicable to empirical performance testing of biometric systems and algorithms through analysis of the comparison scores and decisions output by the system, without requiring detailed knowledge of the system’s algorithms or of the underlying distribution of biometric characteristics in the population of interest.

Not within the scope of this document is the measurement of error and throughput rates for people deliberately trying to subvert the intended operation of the biometric system (e.g. by presentation attacks).