The invention relates to a vehicle occupant protection and/or comfort system (1) for a vehicle (10), comprising a plurality of adaptive protection system and comfort components (8.1, 8.2) which are each assigned to a sitting place (SP1 to SPn) and can be adjusted by means of a safety and/or comfort profile (PS, PK) which is related to a vehicle occupant who is occupying the respective sitting place (SP1 to SPn) and can be activated by means of an authentication system (2). The authentication system (2) here comprises a plurality of person identification devices (4.1 to 4.n) which are each assigned to a sitting place (SP1 to SPn) and have the purpose of sensing biometric identification features (IM) of body parts of a vehicle occupant, wherein the vehicle occupant can be identified by means of the sensed biometric identification features (IM) and can be assigned to a sitting place (SP1 to SPn), and wherein a safety and/or comfort profile (PS, PK) which is associated with the vehicle occupant can be activated on a sitting-place-related basis by means of biometric data (BD) which is associated with the identified vehicle occupant.