Biometrics stopped being science fiction a long time ago. Your face now opens borders and your fingerprint can cast a vote. In some places your palm even paid for groceries.
This article looks at the real uses of biometrics through 15 projects that actually happened. Each one has a name, a place, a date and a result.
Some of these biometric examples worked well and some changed course. A few were stopped altogether.
If you want the basics first, our guide to the types of biometrics explains how each trait works. Here we focus on what people have done with them.
Two questions every system asks
Every biometric example below asks one of two questions. The first is “Are you who you say you are?”
That’s authentication. The system compares you with one stored record, like your phone checking your face.
The second is “Who is this?” That’s identification. The system searches a whole database for a match, like police running a print from a crime scene.
Keep that difference in mind as you read. Biometric authentication examples tend to feel like a convenience. Biometric identification examples are where most of the arguments start.
Each of the examples of biometrics below gets a quick fact box. You’ll see the country, the year it started, its scale, the traits it uses and how it turned out.
Borders and travel: the busiest biometric examples
1. The EU Entry/Exit System
For decades a border guard stamped your passport by hand. Europe has replaced that stamp with your face and fingers.
The Entry/Exit System (EES) records every short-stay visit by travelers from outside the EU. It started in stages in October 2025 and has run at every Schengen border since 10 April 2026. The European Commission says it had logged more than 52 million entries and exits by then.
- Where: All Schengen countries
- Started: October 2025 (fully live April 2026)
- Traits: Face and fingerprints
- Outcome: Over 27,000 people refused entry and more than 700 flagged as security risks
Supporters say it ends guesswork over who overstays. Critics worry about one more large database of non-EU visitors.
2. US airports and Simplified Arrival
The US uses face matching at the border too. US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) compares a live photo with the passport or visa photo it already holds. By 2022 the process covered every US international airport.
- Where: United States
- Started: Trials from 2018 and every international airport by 2022
- Scale: More than 171 million travelers by June 2022
- Traits: Face
- Outcome: CBP says it stopped over 1,450 impostors using real documents that belonged to someone else
CBP says new photos of US citizens are deleted within 12 hours. Privacy groups still question how long data on visitors is kept. If airports interest you, our deep dive on airport face recognition covers the whole journey from check-in to boarding.
Uses of biometrics in national ID and elections
3. Aadhaar in India
Aadhaar is the largest biometric ID system on Earth. Each resident gets a 12-digit number linked to their fingerprints, iris scans and photo.
People use it to open bank accounts, get SIM cards and collect pensions and rations. In November 2025 alone it handled 2.31 billion authentication requests.
- Where: India
- Started: 2010
- Scale: About 1.34 billion live holders and more than 170 billion authentications so far
- Traits: Fingerprint, iris and face
- Outcome: Now part of daily life, from welfare to mobile banking
Its backers credit it with cutting fraud in welfare payments. Critics point to people whose worn fingerprints failed to match and who lost access to food rations as a result.
4. Nigeria’s BVAS voting machines
Nigeria used a handheld device called BVAS in its 2023 general elections. It checked each voter’s fingerprint or face before they could vote. It was also meant to upload polling unit results online.
- Where: Nigeria
- Started: Off-cycle polls in 2021 and nationwide in 2023
- Traits: Fingerprint and face
- Outcome: Voter checks largely ran but the result uploads stumbled
The EU’s observer mission said many presidential results reached the online portal late or not at all. More than a quarter were still missing when the winner was declared. So the same machine became an example of both progress and lost trust.
5. Brazil’s biometric voting
Brazil began testing fingerprint checks at polling stations in 2008. The rollout has grown ever since.
- Where: Brazil
- Started: 2008 pilot
- Scale: About 140 million voters registered with biometrics, or 88.78% of the 2026 electorate
- Traits: Fingerprint
- Outcome: Still expanding, with fingerprint checks used to confirm each voter at the machine
Voters without biometrics can still vote with a document. That keeps the system open while the database fills in. Our piece on biometric voting compares more countries.
Biometric examples in banking and payments
6. Palm-vein ATMs in Japan
Japan was paying with veins long before the smartphone era. In 2004 the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi announced palm vein readers for its ATMs.
- Where: Japan
- Started: 2004
- Scale: 250 branches at launch
- Traits: Palm vein
- Outcome: An early model for palm vein banking that other banks and vendors followed
The smart part was storage. Each customer’s vein pattern lived on their own cash card and not on a central server.
7. NatWest and behavioral biometrics
Some biometric security examples are invisible. In 2016 the fraud firm BioCatch said NatWest was using its software for some business customers.
The software watches how you hold your phone, tap, type and scroll. It tracks more than 500 behavioral points and only steps in when your rhythm suddenly changes.
- Where: United Kingdom
- Started: 2016
- Traits: Typing, touch and swipe behavior
- Outcome: Behavioral checks are now common in online banking fraud systems
It protects you without any extra step. It also means your bank is studying how you move. Whether that feels reassuring or creepy is a personal call.
8. Amazon One palm payments
Amazon launched Amazon One in 2020. You could pay at the till by holding your palm over a scanner. By 2023 it had reached more than 500 Whole Foods stores in the US.
- Where: United States
- Started: 2020
- Traits: Palm print and palm vein
- Outcome: Amazon ended it in retail stores on 3 June 2026, citing limited customer adoption
Amazon said all customer data linked to the service would be deleted. It kept the system for patient check-in at some healthcare sites. It’s a useful reminder that a clever biometric device still needs people to want it.
Policing and public safety
9. The FBI’s Next Generation Identification
The FBI runs one of the oldest biometric identification examples. Its Next Generation Identification (NGI) system replaced an older fingerprint database in 2014.
- Where: United States
- Started: Full operation in 2014
- Scale: More than 100 million records at launch
- Traits: Fingerprints, palm prints and face photos
- Outcome: The FBI says matches on crime-scene prints rose from 27% to more than 81%
NGI also runs a service called Rap Back. It alerts employers like schools when someone in a trusted job gets arrested.
Supporters see a safety net. Civil liberties groups see a database that keeps growing.
10. Live facial recognition in London
London’s Metropolitan Police parks camera vans in busy streets. The cameras compare passing faces with a watch list of wanted people.
- Where: London (UK)
- Started: Trials from 2016 and regular use since 2020
- Scale: More than 3 million faces scanned between September 2024 and September 2025
- Traits: Face
- Outcome: 962 arrests in that year with a reported false alert rate of 0.0003%
The Met says faces that don’t match are deleted at once. Campaigners argue that scanning millions to find hundreds changes what a public street feels like. Our guide to CCTV face recognition digs into that debate.
11. Gait recognition in China
Not every example needs a clear view of your face. In 2018 the Associated Press reported that police in Beijing and Shanghai were using gait recognition from a startup called Watrix.
- Where: China
- Started: 2018 (reported)
- Traits: Walking style and body shape
- Outcome: The company said it could identify people up to 50 meters away
Gait works when a face is covered or far away. That’s exactly why it worries privacy advocates.
Everyday life: phones, classrooms and offices
12. Face ID on the iPhone
The most common biometric device example is probably in your pocket. Apple introduced Face ID with the iPhone X in September 2017. It maps your face in 3D with an infrared camera and a dot projector.
- Where: Worldwide
- Started: 2017
- Traits: Face (3D depth map)
- Outcome: Apple says the chance a random person could unlock your phone is less than 1 in 1,000,000
Your face data stays on the phone and never goes to Apple’s servers. That design is why many experts see phone unlocking as the least risky everyday biometric example.
13. Coursera’s typing check
Online courses have a cheating problem. In 2013 Coursera started asking students to type a short phrase when they signed up.
After that its system compared their typing rhythm each time they submitted work. It’s a neat biometric technology example because it needs no special hardware at all.
- Where: Online (worldwide)
- Started: 2013
- Traits: Typing rhythm
- Outcome: Showed that behavior alone can confirm who is at the keyboard
Similar typing checks now appear in some exam and online banking tools. Many people never realize they’re being checked.
When biometric projects hit the brakes
Not every project ends well. These two examples were stopped by regulators or courts.
14. Face scans in Scottish school canteens
In October 2021 North Ayrshire Council in Scotland added face recognition to nine school canteens. Pupils could pay for lunch just by looking at a camera.
- Where: Scotland (UK)
- Started: 2021
- Scale: Nine schools
- Traits: Face
- Outcome: The council stopped soon after privacy concerns were raised with the UK data regulator
In 2023 the regulator wrote to the council about the case. It said face recognition in schools isn’t banned but carries real risks for children’s data. That letter now shapes how other UK schools think about it.
15. Worldcoin’s iris scans in Kenya
Worldcoin (now called World) scans people’s irises with a device called the Orb. Its aim is to prove that each account belongs to a unique human.
- Where: Kenya and several other countries
- Started: 2023 in Kenya
- Traits: Iris and face
- Outcome: Suspended by Kenya in August 2023, with all Kenyan biometric data deleted after a court order
In May 2025 Kenya’s High Court ruled that the company had collected the data without valid consent. Spain also ordered a pause on its iris scans in 2024. Supporters of the project say proof of personhood will matter more as AI fakes spread online.
Biometric security examples: the breaches
Two leaks show why storage matters as much as the scanner.
In 2015 the US Office of Personnel Management said hackers had taken the fingerprints of about 5.6 million people. Those people could change their passwords but never their prints.
In 2019 researchers found an exposed database behind BioStar 2, a building access platform. It held 27.8 million records including the fingerprints of more than 1 million people.
Good biometric security keeps data on the device or encrypted and spread out. The worst designs gather everything in one place and leave it open.
All 15 examples of biometrics at a glance
| # | Project | Country | Started | Traits | Check type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EU Entry/Exit System | Schengen area | 2025 | Face, fingerprint | Both |
| 2 | CBP Simplified Arrival | United States | 2018 | Face | Authentication |
| 3 | Aadhaar | India | 2010 | Fingerprint, iris, face | Both |
| 4 | BVAS voter checks | Nigeria | 2021 | Fingerprint, face | Authentication |
| 5 | Biometric voting | Brazil | 2008 | Fingerprint | Authentication |
| 6 | Palm-vein ATMs | Japan | 2004 | Palm vein | Authentication |
| 7 | NatWest fraud checks | United Kingdom | 2016 | Typing, touch, swipe | Authentication |
| 8 | Amazon One | United States | 2020 | Palm | Authentication |
| 9 | FBI NGI | United States | 2014 | Fingerprint, palm, face | Identification |
| 10 | Live facial recognition | London, UK | 2016 | Face | Identification |
| 11 | Gait recognition | China | 2018 | Gait | Identification |
| 12 | Face ID | Worldwide | 2017 | Face | Authentication |
| 13 | Coursera typing check | Online | 2013 | Typing | Authentication |
| 14 | School canteen payments | Scotland, UK | 2021 | Face | Authentication |
| 15 | Worldcoin (World) | Kenya and others | 2023 | Iris, face | Identification |
A pattern jumps out across these biometrics examples. The ones that sparked the most debate were nearly all identification systems or projects involving children.
So are these uses of biometrics a good thing?
That depends on who you ask and which of these biometric examples you pick. Supporters point to faster borders, fewer impostors and fraud caught before it costs you money.
Critics point to the canteen, the court ruling in Kenya and the leaked prints that can never be changed. They also ask who gets to see the data years from now.
Most people land somewhere in between. They’re happy to unlock a phone with their face but uneasy about a camera on the street. We weigh both sides in more detail in our guide to biometrics pros and cons.
Quick answers about biometric examples
What are 3 examples of biometrics in real life?
Unlocking a phone with Face ID is the most common. Others include fingerprint checks at polling stations and face matching at airport borders.
What is the biggest biometric system in the world?
India’s Aadhaar. It covers about 1.34 billion people and has handled more than 170 billion authentications.
What are some biometric device examples?
Phone face and fingerprint sensors are the most common. You’ll also find palm vein readers at ATMs, voter check tablets, airport e-gates and police camera vans.
Has a biometric project ever been shut down?
Yes. Scottish schools stopped canteen face scans in 2021 and Kenya suspended Worldcoin’s iris scans in 2023. Amazon also wound down its palm payments in stores in 2026.
What are the main uses of biometrics?
The biggest uses of biometrics are border control, national ID, elections, banking and policing. The most personal one is unlocking your own phone, and each section above shows real projects for every use.
Which of these would you sign up for?
Fifteen biometrics examples and fifteen different trade-offs. Some made life faster. Some made people uneasy.
So where’s your line? Would you give your face to skip a border queue or your palm to pay for lunch?
Would you hand over your iris for a digital ID? Only you can answer that.
Sources
- European Commission: Entry/Exit System (EES) is fully operational (April 2026)
- US Customs and Border Protection: CBP completes Simplified Arrival expansion at all US airports (June 2022)
- All India Radio: UIDAI records 231 crore Aadhaar authentications in November (December 2025)
- TelecomTalk, reporting a MeitY statement: Aadhaar world’s largest biometric ID network (March 2026)
- TheCable: Highlights of EU report on 2023 polls
- Brazil Superior Electoral Court (TSE): 2026 elections: 158 million voters and 88% biometrics (May 2026)
- Computerworld: Japanese banks choose vein recognition security system (August 2004)
- BioCatch via PR Newswire: NatWest deploys BioCatch behavioural biometrics technology (November 2016)
- GeekWire: Amazon is ending its palm ID system for retail (2026)
- FBI: FBI announces biometrics suite’s full operational capability (September 2014)
- Metropolitan Police: Live facial recognition helping to make the capital safer
- TechCrunch, citing the Associated Press: China can apparently now identify citizens based on the way they walk (November 2018)
- Apple: The future is here: iPhone X (September 2017) and About Face ID advanced technology
- The Conversation: Online course host Coursera to ID students using typing style (2013)
- UK Information Commissioner’s Office: Using FRT in schools (January 2023)
- RegTech Africa: Worldcoin deletes Kenyans’ biometric data after court ruling (January 2026)
- US Office of Personnel Management: Statement on cyber incident affecting fingerprints (September 2015)
- MIT Technology Review: Data leak exposes unchangeable biometric data of over 1 million people (August 2019)
