If one of the factors used to authenticate to the electronic prescription application is a biometric as described in § 1311.115, it must comply with the following requirements.

The biometric subsystem must operate at a false match rate of 0.001 or lower.

The biometric subsystem must use matching software that has demonstrated performance at the operating point corresponding with the false match rate described in paragraph (b) of this section, or a lower false match rate. Testing to demonstrate performance must be conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology or another DEA-approved government or nongovernment laboratory. Such testing must comply with the requirements of paragraph (h) of this section.

The biometric subsystem must conform to Personal Identity Verification authentication biometric acquisition specifications, pursuant to NIST SP 800-76-1 as incorporated by reference in § 1311.08, if they exist for the biometric modality of choice.

The biometric subsystem must either be co-located with a computer or PDA that the practitioner uses to issue electronic prescriptions for controlled substances, where the computer or PDA is located in a known, controlled location, or be built directly into the practitioner's computer or PDA that he uses to issue electronic prescriptions for controlled substances.

The biometric subsystem must store device ID data at enrollment (i.e., biometric registration) with the biometric data and verify the device ID at the time of authentication to the electronic prescription application.

The biometric subsystem must protect the biometric data (raw data or templates), match results, and/or non-match results when authentication is not local. If sent over an open network, biometric data (raw data or templates), match results, and/or non-match results must be:

Cryptographically source authenticated;

Combined with a random challenge, a nonce, or a time stamp to prevent replay;

Cryptographically protected for integrity and confidentiality; and

Sent only to authorized systems.

Testing of the biometric subsystem must have the following characteristics:

The test is conducted by a laboratory that does not have an interest in the outcome (positive or negative) of performance of a submission or biometric.

Test data are sequestered.

Algorithms are provided to the testing laboratory (as opposed to scores or other information).

The operating point(s) corresponding with the false match rate described in paragraph (b) of this section, or a lower false match rate, is tested so that there is at least 95% confidence that the false match and non-match rates are equal to or less than the observed value.

Results of the testing are made publicly available.