Biometrics Institute members say linked databases threaten public trust

The main public concern around biometrics is that linked databases could lead to mass surveillance, more than 70 percent of the Biometrics Institute’s membership agrees, according to the latest survey from the leading industry group.

Privacy and data protection concerns are restraining biometrics growth and adoption according to 57 percent, with lack of public trust the most commonly cited problem. That was followed by legislation and governance concerns (44 percent), misinformation about the technology (38 percent) and data sharing concerns (33 percent). Two-thirds of industry representatives agreed that a lack of transparency from organizations about how they are using biometrics is eroding public trust.

The community is also debating the appropriateness of some deployments, with a quarter saying biometrics should not be used in school administration. Even more (30 percent) say biometric technology should be kept out of social media and politics.

Looking ahead

The Industry Survey 2022 indicates major development work to be carried out on digital identity, with a 30 percent increase, and artificial intelligence, which is expected to increase by 15 percent over the next five years. Full results are available only to members of the Institute.

“Digital identity and biometrics remain at the forefront of developments. The surveillance use case creates most of the controversy, not only for government but also in commercial uses,” says Isabelle Moeller, Chief Executive of the Biometrics Institute. “Privacy is the key concern and needs to be addressed through policy and process while testing and standards are essential ingredients for the choice of the technology. It is clear that the Biometrics Institute Three Laws of Biometrics will continue to dictate many of our discussions.”

Consensus is seen around the value of retesting biometrics systems during their lifecycle (75 percent), and the ever-increasing importance of liveness detection (86 percent). Less consensus is observed around prioritizing mask-aware facial recognition capabilities, with 6 in 10 survey respondents saying it should be a focus.

Article Topics

best practices  |  biometrics  |  Biometrics Institute  |  data protection  |  digital identity  |  standards