FB pixel

Students develop facial recognition app that secures smartphones with a selfie

 

Three West Virginia University students have developed an app that uses facial recognition technology to protect private data on a smartphone by taking a selfie, according to a report by The Daily Athenaeum.

Alex Dunn, Walter Ferrell and Steven Amerman worked together to develop SecureSelfies, an app that uses biometrics technology and facial recognition to protect sensitive material on smart phones.

“We use our algorithms to authenticate your facial data, among other factors, to unlock the sensitive parts of your device that you’d normally want to keep away from prying eyes,” Ferrell said. “Our implementation of biometrics makes sure that you— alive and presence required — and only you can access the data that’s locked. Passwords and lock codes can be cracked, a system that judges your facial data is a much trickier thing to deceive.”

Dunn, Ferrell and Amerman completed the assignment, assigned by Thirimachos Bourlai, assistant professor in WVU’s Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, in a span of a week.

The students, who also work at Bourlai’s Multispectral Imaging Lab, were then asked to present to a panel of investors.

The technology is currently being licensed through WVU to Confirmix, a software security company.

Enlisting the help of Confirmix, a startup formed by Thirimachos Bourlai, Ph.D., director of WVU’s Multispectral Imagery Laboratory, the students are expected to launch the app commercially by April 2015.

The students have also launched a Kickstarter campaign for the app, which is currently at $13,165 of its $50,000 goal. The campaign closes on December 14 and will only be funded if it reaches its goal.

Article Topics

 |   |   |   | 

Latest Biometrics News

 

Enterprise IAM could provide needed critical mass for reusable digital identity

There are 2.6 billion people around the world who make up the addressable population for user-held digital identity, according to…

 

iProov stacks up border biometrics wins with Orlando airport deployment announced

iProov is supplying its face biometrics to Orlando International Airport (MCO), which serves nearly 58 million passengers a year, for…

 

Entrust delves into APAC digital government opportunity from DPI

Digital service delivery powered by national digital identity programs are sweeping across the Asia-Pacific region, enabling more efficient government operations…

 

New York senate committee advances ban on police use of biometric surveillance

The New York Senate Internet and Technology Committee has taken a decisive legislative step to confront the rapidly expanding use…

 

Secretary of state to attend this week’s meeting between UK govt, digital ID industry

This week, the UK government is having a face-to-face with industry trade groups representing the digital identity sector – the…

 

Texas AG secures record breaking privacy settlement with Google

In a major development in the battle over consumer data privacy, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has reached a $1.375…

Comments

11 Replies to “Students develop facial recognition app that secures smartphones with a selfie”

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Biometric Market Analysis

Most Viewed This Week

Featured Company

Biometrics Insight, Opinion

Digital ID In-Depth

Biometrics White Papers

Biometrics Events