Edge based block wise selective fingerprint image encryption using chaos

Security and privacy of biometric data plays major concern due to extensive use of biometric systems in high security applications like access to confidential data, information security and financial access etc. This paper proposes an efficient and lossless method for securing fingerprint images using edge based block wise selective encryption based on chaotic theory. In this proposed technique, fingerprint image is segmented into significant and non significant blocks and encryption is applied upon significant blocks which reduces the computational overhead and processing time as compared to full encryption techniques. Experimental results shows that edge based block wise selective encryption significantly reduces the time of encryption of fingerprint images as compared to full encryption method without any compromise in performance which suits real time applications. Experimental results also indicate that upon decryption data is completely recovered making the proposed scheme lossless in nature which suits the requirements of biometric pattern recognition.