An apparatus and method are described for identifying individuals through the ocular reflectance pattern from the fundus of the eye. A fixation target (34) is provided for positioning and focusing the eye of an individual along its visual axis (10), centered on the fovea of the eye. An infrared source (40) provides a substantially collimated source beam (26) of infrared radiation. A scanner (57) directs the infrared radiation into the fixated eye from a plurality of sequential angularly divergent positions forming a substantially circular locus of points substantially centered on the fovea. The light is reflected in part out of the eye and forms a reflected beam. A detector (80) measures the intensity of the radiation reflected from the eye at each sequential location, the intensities being recorded as an identification pattern. At a later date the eye may be presented again to the apparatus in a different rotational position about its visual axis and another pattern generated. The two patterns will be substantially the same, varying only in the relative start points of the data sequences. One pattern may be rotated with respect to the other pattern to ascertain that the two patterns match, thus verifying the identity of the individual.
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