  There is an increasing shift in technology towards biometric solutions, but
one of the biggest barriers to widespread use is the acceptance by the users.
In this paper we investigate the understanding, awareness and acceptance of
biometrics by the general public. The primary research method was a survey,
which had 282 respondents, designed to gauge public opinion around biometrics.
Additionally, qualitative data was captured in the form of the participants'
definition of the term \textit{biometrics}. We applied thematic analysis as
well as an automated Word Vector analysis to this data to provide a deeper
insight into the perceptions and understanding of the term. Our results
demonstrate that while there is generally a reasonable level of understanding
of what biometrics are, this is typically limited to the techniques that are
most familiar to participants (e.g., fingerprints or facial recognition). Most
notably individuals' awareness overlooks emerging areas such as behavioural
biometrics (e.g., gait). This was also apparent when we compared participants'
views to definitions provided by official, published sources (e.g., ISO, NIST,
OED, DHS). Overall, this article provides unique insight into the perceptions
and understanding of biometrics as well as areas where users may lack knowledge
on biometric applications.
