Biometrics reach more health cards, airports and retailers amid data privacy conflicts

Concerns about Hikvision cameras are playing out government institutions, while biometrics provided by ID.me have drawn a questionable lawsuit in the field’s most litigious jurisdiction, in two of the top headlines of the past seven days on Biometric Update. Amazon’s retail biometrics are expanding, a new PAD system has been launched by Clearview, and opportunities for government contracts for health cards and airport biometrics continue a strong round of investment from the public sector.

Top biometrics news of the week

France is getting new health cards with embedded biometric data to guard against unqualified individuals defrauding the national health insurance system. Parliament approved a budget just over $20 million for the project, but opposition politicians warned of the possibility of a centralized database of biometric data which would attract hackers’ attention.

UK government departments are removing Hikvision cameras and cancelling contracts with the company. The backlash prompted by its alleged links to China’s state security apparatus and its involvement in biometric surveillance systems used to repress ethnic minorities has reached the country’s prime-time news reports. New Zealand may already be following suit.

The adoption of biometrics and other advanced technologies by UK police and border is being driven by a broader trend towards militarization, a report from the Campaign Against Arms Trade and Network for Police Monitoring argues. The report comes just as UK Home Office is outfitting migrants convicted of a criminal offence with smart watches that perform biometric scans.

Amazon One palm biometrics are coming to 65 more Whole Foods stores in California, including introductions in new cities and more locations in L.A. The automated biometric payment system has also already been rolled out in Washington State, Texas, and New York. The company’s track record with personally identifying information will not inspire all shoppers with confidence, however, as the trove of data available through Amazon gift registries is revealed by The Intercept.

A public art exhibit in Montreal, Canada invites people to explore the way mass surveillance changes how they view themselves and others, Daily Hive reports.

ID.me is the latest technology provider to be targeted by a potential class action suit for alleged violations of Americas toughest biometric data privacy law in Illinois. The complaint involves an employee tracking system, but does not name the plaintiff’s employer, in an unusual, though hardly unheard-of, twist on the most common species of BIPA case.

As digital identity companies board the hype train to the metaverse, Heather Vescent’s column looks at the market forecasts and plans, and where all that revenue might come from. One view is that the metaverse represents a new and potentially dominant channel. Another is that it represents a new way to interact with the world at large.

Morocco is planning to upgrade the airport of its capital city, Rabat-Sale, with facial recognition for passenger processing, from self-enrollment with an app to baggage drops, security checkpoints and flight boarding. The full upgrade, which includes the One ID-style passenger journey as a part, is budgeted for $37 million.

Former UNDP Program Manager Niall McCann joined the new ID16.9 podcast shortly before leaving the agency to discuss progress on providing legal identity to all people. The conversation includes some important points for biometrics providers working on birth and civil registration systems.

Ghana is putting a fee in place for biometric SIM registration using its self-service app. The app captures contactless fingerprint biometrics, and the charge is only GH5, but a lawmaker immediately complained that the move was made without the proper authority.

Clearview AI has launched a presentation attack detection feature for its identity verification and authentication developer tool Consent. The company’s CEO and VP of Research joined Biometric Update for a demo and conversation about training liveness assurance systems, the ensemble-of-models approach, and how liveness detection is following trends seen elsewhere in AI.

Callsign VP North America Joe Micara writes in a Biometric Update guest post that behavioral biometrics could be the answer to Netflix’ account-sharing challenge. The technology could replace measures that have caused customer service lines to fill up and lead to an eventual move away from passwords altogether.

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Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometric data  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  data privacy  |  digital ID  |  facial recognition  |  identity verification  |  surveillance  |  week in review