A Guide to Litigating Identity Systems BIOMETRICS AND IDENTITY SYSTEMS 47. This section of the guide provides details on the arguments surrounding biometric information. Advocates and human rights defenders should use these arguments to challenge assumptions about the effectiveness and necessity of biometric data, to explain the unique implications of biometric information on rights, and to frame future arguments developed throughout this guide in identity systems. Fallibility and inaccuracy 48. The biometric technology underlying identity systems is fallible and not always accurate, leading to authentication failures. a) The Jamaican Supreme Court states that because the decision that arises from the biometric matching process is the “outcome of a series of processes that have at their base a probability factor,”169 it can result in both false positives and false negatives.170 Additionally, the court states that the differences in sensitivity of the devices executing the initial data collection and subsequent comparison affect the reliability of biometric identity systems and increase the risk of false positives and false negatives.171 False positives and negatives include instances where the identity of an individually is either incorrectly verified or incorrectly rejected because of the matching of the biometric data.172 b) The dissent of the Indian Supreme Court cites an official document of the Government of India that recorded authentication failures in several 169 Julian J. Robinson, ¶ 51. 170 Julian J. Robinson, ¶ 51. 171 Julian J. Robinson, ¶ 53. 172 See Opinion of Justice Sykes, ¶ 51. 42