The data centre deployment process was rolled out over the past several years, and in some locations, deployments are still ongoing. The data centres have already gone through a couple of generations of Iris Identification products and different integrators, ranging from Siemens, Tyco and Northland to ADT and MC Dean.

According to Aditech, the technology provides less false rejects and one enrollment does suffice. Based on this forecast, the technology has been primarily implemented in Tier 1 data centres globally, as a cost-effective solution. Iris Access has so far been used in data centres in the U.S., Ireland, Finland, Belgium and Asia.

The Iris Access platform has been deployed for access control in many mantraps and single entrance access with anti-piggybacking locations, within the Google data centre deployments.

The data centres are protected with several layers of security to prevent any unauthorised access to data. Google uses secure perimeter defence systems, comprehensive camera coverage, iris based biometric authentication, and a 24/7 guard staff. In addition, the organisation enforces a strict access and security policy at its data centres and train staff to be security minded.

They also have local and regional security operations centres covering the entire data centre fleet. These SOCs monitor and respond to alarms at all of Google facilities and are constantly tracking local and global events that could impact operations at the data centres. The security teams also run year-round testing to ensure that the company is always prepared to respond to any situation. And along with routine testing, the teams run a robust enterprise risk management programme to proactively assess and mitigate any risks to the data centres.