Face biometrics deployed for everything from supermarket payments to World Cup security

Face biometrics deployments spanning identity verification, small-n searches and large-scale forensic investigation, and even live facial recognition dominate the most-read articles of the week on Biometric Update. Idemia software and hardware will be used in a Chilean law enforcement system that includes face, fingerprint and palm, and the FIFA World Cup is contracting multiple live facial recognition vendors, none of whom have been publicly named. We have a few guesses on that. SmilePay’s retail payments system has been deployed at a pair of supermarket chains, and Facewatch’s CEO says critics are confused about how the company’s facial recognition systems work.

Meanwhile in other headlines Ethiopia wants more vendors to follow Tech5’s leading engagement with its national ID system, and Qui Identity, .bit and Unstoppable Domains made up another set of big-money early-round digital ID startup capitalizations.

Top biometrics news of the week

An update to Canada’s digital transformation strategy has been released, including a plan to hold public consultations on digital identity. A framework and a federal program for using public services with digital ID are part of the Treasury Board’s plan, as is integration with provincial platforms.

Ethiopia is about to invest in hardware and software to advance its MOSIP-based digital ID and help it reach 10 million issuances during the 2022/2023 fiscal year, which ends in early July. NIDP thanked Tech5 for its work on the project, and invited more vendors to participate in future bids.

The advances are welcome, as David Birch writes for Forbes about the constant breakdown of identity infrastructure and the real costs, in money and more, it imposes on individuals and society. The solution to numerous problems, he suggests, lies in tap-to-prove implementations of Verifiable Credentials.

A government official in The Philippines has suggested that digital IDs should be rolled out to compliment the physical PhilID card, presumably meaning as credentials stored on a mobile device, as they could accelerate issuance. Nearby Vietnam has reached the issuance stage for its national digital citizenship document, meanwhile.

The UN expects to be about a third of the way to its universal legal ID goal by 2025, Niall McCann said during an appearance on the ID16.9 podcast shortly before leaving the UNDP. The discussion also covers the challenges of counting the “invisible billion,” and the importance of both birth and death registration.

Decentralized digital ID, with all its potential privacy-protecting benefits, is one of the central promises of Web3. A $6.5 million Seed funding round for Qui Identity, .bit raising $13 million and Unstoppable Domains raising $65 million, both in Series A, demonstrate sustained investor confidence in the nascent market, even amid reports of recession.

The future of high-stakes facial recognition deployments may involve dedicated capture devices, not simply software running on high-definition single-frame or video cameras, Arun Vemury said during an appearance on DHS S&T’s ‘Technologically Speaking’ podcast. The Biometric and Identity Technology Center director discussed the role of biometrics, the advances of and limitations to the face modality, and mobile driver’s licenses.

SmilePay’s facial recognition is being deployed for payments by a pair of supermarkets in its home country of Azerbaijan. The Mastercard partner has also recently picked up an undisclosed investment from a local bank, and is looking to bring its biometric retail payment technology to various verticals as an SaaS or PaaS offering.

World Cup 2022 in Qatar will be watched over by 15,000 cameras integrated with live facial recognition to spot terrorists and other threats. The algorithm provider is not known, but a source tells Biometric Update it is a multi-vendor system. Registration for the fan access card also seems to involve biometric identity verification.

Chilean federal law enforcement is deploying an ABIS from Idemia to match the fingerprint, palm and face biometrics of known criminals, irregular migrants and the deceased, as the country grapples with organized crime. The capture devices depicted in the announcement are also from Idemia, and the new system is planned for operation by the end of the year, at a $5.6 million price tag.

BioCatch Director of Fraud Strategy for North America Raj Dasgupta reveals behavioral anomalies that can reveal fraud attempts in an interview with Biometric Update, and including those detected with its age analysis capability. He discusses regulation as a driver of behavioral biometrics adoption and covers several different types of attacks.

Facewatch CEO Nick Fisher tells Biometric Update that contrary to claims from Big Brother Watch, the data of UK shoppers is not stored for two years when they visit one of the retailers that uses its facial recognition system. Stores also cannot share data with each other, Fisher says, and the solution complies with data minimization and proportionality.

Watch out for this Elon Musk deepfake making the rounds. Biometric Update has confirmed that the claimed video of the entrepreneur revealing plans to build a space car is not, in fact, authentic.

Please let us know of any podcasts, interviews or other content that we should share with the people in biometrics and the broader digital identity community in the comments below or through social media.

Article Topics

biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  Identification for Development (ID4D)  |  identity verification  |  investment  |  law enforcement  |  national ID  |  video surveillance  |  week in review