Contactless fingerprint biometrics take another step towards mainstream adoption

Idemia and Telos have been named winners in the latest contactless fingerprint biometrics challenge from NIST, while Yoti has won government approval for a new market in the UK, in a couple of the most popular stories of the week on Biometric Update. Executive perspectives also drew many headlines, including interviews with ID R&D, PayByFace, Integrated Biometrics and Sciometrics, and Princeton Identity.

Top biometrics news of the week

Contactless fingerprint biometrics have advanced to the point that they are ready for law enforcement applications, as shown by the latest NIST mFIT Challenge results, IB and Sciometrics executives tell Biometric Update. Their joint entry scored the best accuracy result, while Idemia and Telos took top overall marks in Phase 2 for a smartphone-based mobile application to match fingerprints against a database populated with templates derived from contact-based scans.

Digital government service and benefits delivery made headlines, with Jamaica reaching an agreement with financial institutions in the country to pilot digital ID verification with the national ID, as it attempts to get more Covid aid to intended beneficiaries, while two levels of government in Pakistan are similarly working to digitize benefits distribution. Bhutan launched its national digital ID system, and the Philippines updated its growing enrollment numbers.

The digital stack underpinning the Philippines’ national digital ID system sets a good example for other countries developing their identity ecosystems, according to a World Bank blog post. Foundational ID, digital payments and data governance systems together make up the digital stack, the post explains, before enumerating the benefits Filipinos are receiving from PhilSys.

Passwordless solutions continue to make inroads towards popular acceptance, with Apple giving iPhone users the option to use face or fingerprint biometrics instead, and LastPass launching an authentication tool to manage account credentials, with plans to add biometrics support. 1Password and Valmido have joined the FIDO Alliance, meanwhile, as reinforcements in the battle to end password use.

Airports are straining under recovering passenger volumes, so Vision-Box has introduced a self-service biometric kiosk, while a Singapore airport is deploying biometric devices from Idemia. Bangladesh is deploying Veridos’ gates, Materna is powering biometric bag drop for Spirit at LAX, and iProov finds most people would rather check in for their flights from home.

Police in Ireland could soon be legally entitled to use real-time facial recognition from public surveillance cameras, along with forensic face biometrics, if a planned amendment passes this fall. Civil society groups have pushed back, demanding a moratorium and criticizing the process of introducing the change.

The digital identity service provided by partners Yoti and the UK Post Office has been approved by the government for online employment vetting with biometrics, the first service certified for DBS schemes. The right-to-work and similar schemes follow DCMS’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework.

Fingerprint Cards and partner Feitian say they are scaling production of their combined biometric card technologies for payments and access control, which will be offered as a pre-laminated solution to manufacturers. The senor-maker was also discussing its biometric access control ambitions with partner Freevolt at the recent IFESEC 2022.

Document liveness detection is a new innovation discussed by ID R&D executives in a sponsored post, which covers the threat the technology responds to, how it works and the role it plays in securing the onboarding process against an attack method that has been used successfully by criminals in the wild.

PayByFace CEO and Founder Mike Draghici spoke to Biometric Update about his company’s plans for global expansion as it announces a major strategic investment from Indian fintech SafexPay. Draghici reveals PayByFace’s next steps in development and a raft of possible upcoming trials around the world.

Heather Vescent’s column highlights the Web3 and decentralized identity theme at this year’s EIC event. That includes Martin Kuppinger’s presentation on identity fabric, talks on SSI, decentralized data storage and technology ethics.

Princeton Identity CEO Bobby Varma spoke to Biometric Update about the biometrics industry’s struggle against misconceptions and the gender imbalances common throughout the tech world, having been recently named a Women in Biometrics Award winner for 2022 by the SIA.

Precise Biometrics’ new CEO Patrick Höijer has taken the company reigns, and he discusses the state of the market and how his journey led him to it in a company blog post. Höijer’s past experience ranges from business journalism to tech CEO.

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Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  identity verification  |  national ID  |  research and development  |  week in review