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CBEFF Overview
What is CBEFF?
What are CBEFF registrations?
What is CBEFF (Common Biometric Exchange Formats Framework)?
CBEFF is a biometric standard that defines a set of data elements that are used to describe biometric data records using agreed record headers. CBEFF facilitates biometric data interchange between different system components or between systems, promotes interoperability of application programs and systems that use biometrics, supports forward compatibility for technology improvements, and facilitates the software and hardware integration process.
CBEFF conforming record headers can: (1) describe attributes of the biometric data that assist applications to determine whether the data is of interest to the application, especially the format of that data; (2) carry information associated with the biometric data, such as private keys or database indexes; and (3) describe the record's security attributes (digital signatures and data encryption).
There are currently two versions of CBEFF:
- CBEFF 1.1 is an ANSI/INCITS* standard (ANSI INCITS 398-2005). CBEFF was originally developed in a series of workshops jointly sponsored by the (US) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Biometric Consortium. CBEFF 1.0 was published as NISTIR 6529 in 2001. CBEFF 1.1 was published as NISTIR 6529-A in 2004 and was adopted by ANSI/INCITS in 2005.
- CBEFF 2.0 is an ISO/IEC JTC 1** standard (ISO/IEC 19785-1:2006). Subcommittee 37 of JTC 1 (SC 37 Biometrics) developed CBEFF 2.0 based upon CBEFF 1.0, with participation by more than a dozen different national standards bodies.
* American National Standards Institute / International Committee for
Information Technology Standards
** International Standards Organization / International Electrotechnical
Committee Joint Technical Committee 1
What are CBEFF registrations?
A CBEFF format owner is an entity (an individual, vendor, or organization) that defines one or more biometric formats. To become a recognized format owner (as defined by CBEFF) and have a unique format owner value assigned, the entity is required to register with IBIA.
CBEFF recognizes four objects that have owners and identifiers:
- the biometric data block(BDB) format
- a BDB contains the actual biometric data, as opposed to the CBEFF header, which contains fields that describe attributes of the BDB
- the patron format
- a specification for a CBEFF header
- the security block format
- a specification for the optional part of a biometric record that describes its encryption and integrity attributes
- the product
- a software or hardware object that is associated with the creation or processing of a BDB
A CBEFF format type or product type represents a specific data format or product as defined by the format/product owner. These may be proprietary, unpublished formats (or products) or formats that have been standardized by an industry group, consortium, or standards body. The owning entity may optionally register the format/product type value, but is not required to do so.
IBIA is the registration authority for CBEFF Format/Product Owner and Format/Product Type values for organizations and vendors that require them. Registration of format owner is required to populate the various format-owner/product-owner fields of the CBEFF header. Registration of any format/product-type is optional. Both values, as a pair, are required when the format or product identifier is included in a CBEFF header. The BDB format owner and type are mandatory in every CBEFF header; the presence or absence of the other owner/type pairs is as defined by the CBEFF header's patron format specification.
The CBEFF format or product owner is a 2-byte unsigned integer value. The CBEFF format or product type is another 2-byte unsigned integer value. Each of these can be represented (for ease of communication) as 4 hexadecimal characters, such as "023F". The format owner value is uniquely assigned by the IBIA as part of the registration process. The format type value is uniquely assigned by the registered format or product owner and can optionally be registered and published by the IBIA. Format owners are free to disclose as much or as little about their specific format types as they wish, anywhere from full secrecy regarding their existence to full publication of the details of a data format itself.
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