Anonybit partners with Aware to preserve biometric template privacy

Decentralized solutions provider Anonybit has entered a new partnership with face biometrics developer Aware to build highly secure, and privacy-focused biometric templates with a focus on government use cases.

According to the firms, the rise in data breaches across different industries may soon include an increasing number of biometric templates, thus calling for an urgent necessity of improving the security of such data.

“As data breaches continue to rise in volume and severity around the globe, and biometrics become more ubiquitous in our daily lives, it’s incumbent upon all of us to address overwhelming concerns around how our identity information is being stored and managed,” says Anonybit CEO Frances Zelazny. “We are excited to partner with Aware to develop industry-leading solutions that will protect highly sensitive biometric templates and, in turn, our users’ privacy.”

From a technology standpoint, the partnership will see the combination of Aware’s biometric technology and Anonybit’s approach to storing data as anonymized bits via a peer-to-peer network composed of various types of nodes that store and compute the biometric match.

As this data is stored in a decentralized fashion and the anonymized bits never leave the nodes, they cannot be used to reconstruct the original image, even if an attacker managed to get hold of some of them.

Applications will include passwordless authentication, access control, time and attendance, and visitor management.

“Anonybit tackles a key issue for biometric implementations – how to secure the biometric template,” explains Aware CTO, Dr. Mohamed Lazzouni. “In an age of privacy first, their approach promises to address the need for greater data protection and frictionless identity assurance. We are delighted to be partnering with them to deliver privacy-preserving identity management solutions to the market.”

Aware is not the first company to partner with Anonybit to improve the security of its biometrics system using decentralized infrastructures. In November 2021, it started a new collaboration with FacePhi. More recently, the company also raised $3.5 million in a funding round led by Switch Ventures.

The partnerships and investment are perhaps indicative of a new industry trend of a renewed desire among companies to secure their biometric templates using a decentralized approach.

Article Topics

Anonybit  |  anonymization  |  Aware  |  biometric data  |  biometric matching  |  biometric template  |  biometrics  |  data storage  |  decentralized biometrics  |  face biometrics  |  privacy