Automotive biometrics and new facial recognition projects top most read identity news this week

Biometric facial recognition deployments for event security at the Olympics, law enforcement around the world, secure area access control and monitoring, and weapons were among the top stories on Biometric Update this week in a real mix of the positive, negative, and uncertain. The acceptability and appropriate scope of law enforcement use continues to be debated in some countries, even as deployments expand both in those same countries and elsewhere. Kenya’s efforts to protect its environment and reduce fraud with biometrics was also prominent in this week’s news.

An interview with Synaptics Directory of Product Prototyping Dr. Andrew Hsu on the impending launch of vehicles with integrated biometric capabilities in the North American market, and the potential of auto applications for the industry was our most popular story among Biometric Update readers this week.

Our wrap of digital ID stories from Africa was particularly widely-read this week, with biometric smart cards for fisheries protection, police payroll and double-registration resolution initiatives in Kenya, plus thousands of pensioners in Ghana reinstated for benefits after biometric registration.

Facial recognition from id3 has been preselected among a call for projects by the French National Research Agency for technologies to help with the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Warnings that the unscrupulous could apply facial recognition to create killer robots have gained credence with a report that such technology is already on the market, and has even been added to Turkey’s military arsenal.

India’s government meanwhile has pushed back a deadline for bids to supply technology for a new national facial recognition system for the second time and defended it from criticism, while a new cloud facial recognition system has been launched in Russia, where the system of public biometric surveillance may now even surpass that of China.

Trueface has won a Phase II contract with the U.S. Air Force to follow up on an earlier project to provide facial recognition for base security, while a reversal by Taiwan’s railways agency shows how governments around the world are struggle with the acceptable conditions of facial biometrics use. The controversy around and use of facial recognition are particularly prevalent for law enforcement, and Commissioners in Jersey and North Wales recently expressed concerns with the technology, as law enforcement in three different countries expand its use.

Technology bans, however, can have unintended consequences, as Mitre Technical Director for Homeland Security Programs Craig Arndt explains in an editorial for The Hill. Arndt reviews facial recognition’s uses for preventing terrorism, combating child pornography and finding missing persons, and maintaining privacy and security, and says that data ownership is key to addressing concerns with the tech. In conclusion, he proposes a body made up of technology, privacy, and civil liberties experts to guide legislators, policymakers, and the press, and ultimately develop governance.

The number of people with records in DHS’ IDENT database is expected to approach 260 million by 2022, after an upwards revision of 40 million. Those interested in DHS’ advanced technological capabilities may also want to read about the training systems developed with technology from the department’s Science & Technology Directorate including virtual reality and night vision.

The air travel industry has begun investing heavily in digital technologies, including biometrics, to a total of $50 billion this year. Some results of that investment can be seen in NEC’s new site dedicated to the airport space, but also tightening passport requirements that are bound to cause some confusion as standards are implemented. Idemia VP of Border Control and Passenger Flow Facilitation Emmanuel Wang, who recently spoke to Biometric Update about the value of experience working with governments as biometrics roll out to airports around the world, writes in an editorial for Passenger Terminal Today about the importance of interoperability for airport biometrics, and the role of IATA’s One ID initiative in making it happen.

A blog post by Idemia SVP of Global Sales for Public Security and Identity François Perrachon also discusses interoperability, but in the broader context of reimagined, digitalized identity based on biometrics.

A partnership gives Precise Biometrics exclusive use of Infinity Optics’ biometric hashing platform to develop a fingerprint recognition product, as the cryptographic technology winds its way toward the market.

Pindrop released disturbing findings about the frequency of voice fraud attacks this week, just as Future Advocacy released deepfake videos to raise awareness of the potential danger to democracy from AI-based fraud. The report delves into the generation of fake audio with Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) and predicts a continued increase in the sophistication of voice fraud attacks.

Combating transaction fraud does not necessarily mean reducing convenience, as has traditionally been thought, by moving past legacy methods like KBA and a point-in-time mentality, Experian Senior Vice President and Head of Fraud & Identity for the Decision Analytics Business Unit in North America Kathleen Peters writes in a Biometric Update guest post.

Canadian tech conferences are in the news, as an upcoming China Forum at the University of British Columbia will feature an address from SenseTime Executive Director Jimmy Zhou, CBC News reports, yet artificial intelligence experts from Africa who have been invited to the upcoming NeurIPS event in Vancouver are not being granted visas by the country to attend – for the second year in a row, according to Wired.

In a relatively slow week for digital ID news, ID R&D CEO Alexey Khitrov writes for Forbes on how businesses can protect their assets with less friction in their customer experience.

In privacy, Microsoft has vowed to extend its policies for CCPA compliance across the U.S., and urges Congress to create a unified federal policy in a blog post by Corporate Vice President for Global Privacy and Regulatory Affairs and Chief Privacy Officer Julie Brill. The ACLU notes a victory with a federal court decision that the U.S. government cannot search electronic devices at the border without reasonable suspicion. CBP and ICE have previously asserted and exercised authority to search the contents of smartphones, laptops, and online accounts.

On a final note, Women in Identity Co-founder Emma Lindley is climbing North Africa’s tallest mountain, Mt Toubkal in Morocco, to raise funds to send more African women to ID4Africa 2020. The organization has raised £4,912 of its £5,000 goal on GOFUNDME, with all proceeds going to cover travel and hotel expenses. If you believe in inclusive dialogue around the provision of digital identity, chip in a few bucks, and the goal will be met by the end of the day.

If you spot an article that the biometrics and digital identity communities should read, let us know in the comments or through social media.

Article Topics

access control  |  Africa  |  automotive biometrics  |  biometrics  |  deepfakes  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  fraud prevention  |  law enforcement  |  legislation  |  One ID  |  travel and tourism