UK plans next round of biometrics self-enrollment trials for apps and kiosks

The UK’s Biometrics Self-Enrolment Feasibility Trials have reached Phase 2, with a request for expression of interest from developers of technology running on smartphones to assess how the state of the art has improved since the trials held in late-2021.

The new trials will assess the effectiveness of fingerprint biometric enrollment and presentation attack detection (PAD) technology. For the initial benchmark exercise, subjects will be volunteers from among Home Office staff, and from the general public for the capture trial, with the PAD trial running parallel to both.

The success criteria for the benchmark exercise is a completion rate of ten fingerprint enrollment by more than 95 percent of subjects. The verification target is a 0.2 precent false rejection rate and 0.01 percent false acceptance rate. PAD performance success is defined as a 0.2 percent BPCER and 0.1 percent APCER.

Additional criteria for success in the trial assessment is included in the project documentation, including usability, particularly around the capture of thumbprints.

Submissions for the new round of trials are due by October 10, 2022.

JSRC case study

The country’s Joint Security and Resilience Centre has published a case study on the first phase of the trial.

The BSEFT Case Study describes the project to enroll the face and fingerprint biometrics of people traveling to the UK ahead of their journey. It explains the two separate sets of trials, one based on smartphone apps and the other on kiosks, and the conclusion that

Thirteen smartphone apps and five kiosks were tested, made by 15 suppliers in total from around the world.

Kiosks were found to be closer to the capabilities Home Office is looking for, but questions remain such as around PAD for both capture methods.

Now, in addition to the Phase 2 trial, a further pilot of kiosks operate by the Future Borders and Immigration System (FBIS) Programme is planned for 2023.

EAB Virtual Lunch Talk

The European Association for Biometrics will explore the trials in a presentation by UK Home Office Head of Technical Architecture, Biometrics, Graham Camm.

Camm will deliver a presentation titled ‘UK Home Office Biometric Self-Enrolment Technology – Findings from Recent Large Scale Trials and Future Plans,’ explaining Home Office’s concerns with fingerprint biometrics enrollment and PAD through smartphone apps.

The Virtual Lunch Talk will be held on October 4, 2022, and registration is free but required.

Article Topics

biometric enrollment  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  EAB  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  presentation attack detection  |  smartphones  |  UK