iProov wins face biometric liveness detection contract to secure Australian digital ID

iProov has been awarded a contract to provide its passive biometric liveness solution to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) for customer identity verification program myGovID, through an open tender process.

The face verification partnership comes with a price tag of AU$10.7 million (roughly US$8.3 million) over three years, InnovationAus reports, and enables Australians to perform self-service onboarding processes with face biometrics scans through their mobile devices. This will provide the highest level of identity proofing under the Australian federal government’s system, “IP3,” and give users access to services including tax return management, healthcare, and benefits applications. All Australian government services are expected to go online by 2025.

A public beta test of the service is planned for July, according to iTnews.

iProov’s Genuine Presence Assurance technology provides the ‘liveness’ aspect of the biometric check, and the company touts it as easy to use, inclusive of user devices, convenient, secure, resilient against emerging threats, and privacy preserving. Its adoption is hoped to encourage the growth of Australia’s digital economy by increasing the adoption and use of online services.

“iProov is honoured that the Commonwealth of Australia has entrusted us with such an important task – to secure the creation of digital identities against impersonation,” iProov CEO Andrew Bud. “We are delighted that the Australian government has chosen our unique combination of inclusivity and resilience, which is already trusted by governments worldwide to authenticate citizens.”

The company’s technology is also used by Singapore’s government for the SingPass initiative, the UK Home Office for the EU Settlement Scheme, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for land border crossings. It is also certified for eIDAS’ highest level of assurance, the only biometric authentication system with the certification, according to the announcement.

The ATO has previously tested biometric liveness technology from Idemia, and also trialed liveness detection from FaceTec last year.

Best Biometric Solutions award

iProov has also been crowned the Gold Winner for the Best Biometric Solution for its Genuine Presence Assurance technology at the 2021 Cyber Security Global Excellence Awards.

The awards are bestowed by the Globee Business Awards to promote outstanding digital security and IT achievements from around the world, and 2021 is their 17th annual installment.

The company notes in the announcement that its authentication end-users grew by over 549 percent last year.

Article Topics

Australia  |  authentication  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  identity verification  |  iProov  |  myGovID  |  passive facial liveness