1. A method for extracting iris data from an eye for biometric identification, said method comprising the steps of: acquiring an eye image, said eye image having a plurality of component images including an iris image with an inner boundary and an outer boundary, and said eye image having a distribution of grey levels; segmenting said component images from said eye image according to said distribution of grey levels; determining said inner boundary and outer boundary of said iris image from said component images; and processing said iris image within said inner boundary and outer boundary.