Biometric passwordless authentication with phones and cards set for rapid expansion

Another volume launch of biometric payment cards to replace PINs and passwords with fingerprint authentication was one of several top stories on Biometric Update over the past week about going passwordless. The cards are made with Idemia and Idex Biometrics technology, and Idemia is also working on cards for CBDCs, which may or may not be biometric. A CyberLink survey shows passwordless mobile interactions have made most younger people comfortable with face biometrics, and a market report shows the extent of the business opportunity passwordless authentication presents. A striking insight into the frequency of different fraud attack types from iProov was also among the most-read articles of the week.

Top biometrics news of the week

Louisiana appears to be the early leader in mobile driver’s license adoption among American states, with 1.5 million users. In addition to mDLs, digitized health cards and fishing licenses contribute to 2.5 million state-issued digital IDs held by residents. The state legislature has now passed rules to formalize their acceptance.

Data privacy regulators from around the world met at the recent Global Privacy Assembly in Istanbul, and agreed to six principles on familiar themes that any use of personal information for facial recognition should adhere to. Canada’s privacy commissioner, meanwhile, has backed a parliamentary committee report calling for a moratorium on facial recognition use by police and the private sector, and new legislation.

Three-quarters of people in America between the ages of 18 and 34 now use biometric face authentication on mobile devices, according to new research from CyberLink. The research suggests that while passwordless mobile logins are the initial mass market adoption driver for face biometrics, the majority of people are also ready to use the technology in stores, restaurants, and travel processes under certain conditions.

Central bank digital currencies are gaining further traction, with Turkey’s government announcing a plan to deploy the necessary infrastructure and link it with the country’s digital identity system. In Japan, Idemia has teamed with JCB and Soft Space on a pilot to test acceptance of CBDCs for contactless payments.

The role of digital identity in web3 is being considered by a growing cadre of stakeholders, and some tensions are becoming clear, particularly related to regulatory compliance. Always a bugbear for the cryptocurrency industry, compliance in the metaverse will likely rely on increasing standardization, particularly if oversharing of sensitive personal data is to be avoided. Products have already started rolling out, including a new platform from JPMorgan.

Digital injection attacks have exploded as a fraud vector in remote account onboarding, according to a presentation by iProov CEO Andrew Bud at the Trust Services Forum/CA Day. He was speaking about the importance of delivering both biometric security and ease of use in digital identity projects like the EU Digital Wallet.

KuppingerCole forecasts that the passwordless authentication market will rise by over 30 percent a year to $6.6 billion in the next few years as vendors make login experiences more consistent. In that pursuit, 1Kosmos integrated with Ping’s DaVinci, Transmit Security joined the AWS marketplace, and FusionAuth added support for passwordless biometrics through the WebAuthn protocol.

The biggest bank and top retailer in the UAE are partnering to launch biometric payment cards built with technology from Idemia and Idex Biometrics. The companies say the EMV card is the first volume launch of contactless biometric payment cards in the region.

Biometric SIM card registration is advancing in the Philippines, where at least one telecom says it will finish registering subscribers this year. A law on identifying mobile subscribers is under consideration in India, Bangladesh wants people to adhere to a limit on personal SIM cards, and Pakistan is using multiple fingerprints to cut SIM-related fraud. The biggest development though is in Ghana, where a registration deadline passed seemingly without effect.

A project to issue biometric digital ID to 22 million people in Niger has begun. The WURI project is intended to facilitate regional economic development, and includes upgrading legal frameworks and infrastructure, ahead of the distribution of free credentials for use accessing public and private sector services.

A startup working on infant biometrics has been created by NEC and a researcher affiliated with UC San Diego, and is working towards commercialization. Synolo has its specialized fingerprint scanners for small children deployed to an NGO in New York and in testing in Latin America.

Elizabeth Renieris writes in a critique of the incoming EU EES for The Centre for International Governance Innovation that the system’s motivation is based on “the values of the companies providing the underlying technologies.” The details have been left vague, Renieris argues, and the reliance on survey findings that people expect less discrimination from automated systems to show rights protection amounts to “jurisprudential gaslighting.”

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Article Topics

biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  financial services  |  identity verification  |  passwordless authentication  |  research and development  |  week in review