Final answer:
Biometrics is the authentication method that identifies and recognizes people based on physical traits such as fingerprints.
Step-by-step explanation:
The authentication method that identifies and recognizes people based on physical traits such as fingerprints is biometrics.
Biometrics refers to the measurement and analysis of unique physical or behavioral characteristics that can be used to verify an individual's identity. Fingerprint recognition is one of the most common and reliable forms of biometric authentication.
For example, a person's fingerprint can be scanned and converted into a digital representation known as a template. This template can then be compared to a database of stored templates to determine if there is a match, effectively verifying the person's identity.