[Discuss] Fidelity voice-recognition security?

[Robert Krawitz]

On Wed, 22 Nov 2017 23:37:10 -0500, Richard Pieri wrote:
> On 11/22/2017 10:42 PM, Robert Krawitz wrote:
>> With that much leeway, there's more chance for collision, right?
>
> It depends on a lot of factors. Leeway -- the degrees of deviations
> allowed for a match -- is just one of the more easily quantifiable factors.
>
> https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/human-voices-are-unique-but-were-not-that-good-at-recognizing-them/

Whoa.  The link in the sentence "Each human being has a voice that is
distinct and different from everyone else’s" is to
https://theconversation.com/is-every-human-voice-and-fingerprint-really-unique-63739?sr=1
which is actually titled "Is every human voice and fingerprint really
unique?"  *That* piece leads with

"Barclays, the UK bank, is to replace the password system on its phone
banking service with personal voice recognition. 'Unlike a password,
each person’s voice is as unique as a fingerprint,' said Steven
Cooper, Barclays’ head of personal banking. Yet the reality is we have
no idea whether either fingerprints or voices are unique at all."

and closes with

"Dangers and misunderstandings occur when too much is claimed for such
techniques. They are of limited usefulness. They should not be relied
upon totally – as overriding evidence or for security systems on their
own. They must be relied upon only as part of a wider case or system
of checks."

Bit of a difference there, you agree?

> Any biometric system can be spoofed. This is as much a tautology as "any
> password can be cracked". The difference, ideally, is that a specific
> password can be cracked by anyone with sufficient power but spoofing a
> specific voice requires a willing twin sibling with similar enough
> habits (eating, drinking, smoking, exposure to atmospheric pollution,
> injuries or lack thereof, etc) to force a match. I don't see (hear?)
> voice spoofing to be a credible threat except in rare circumstances. Or
> financial executives cutting corners on security in order to maximize
> their personal wealth.

Meanwhile, as voice synthesis improves in fidelity...
-- 
Robert Krawitz                                     <rlk at alum.mit.edu>

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