TFT biometric sensor development gets a boost
TFT sensors for fingerprints and veins showed up in two of the most popular articles on Biometric Update this week. A partnership between Mofiria and Isorg has resulted in a new, thin finger vein sensor, they say, while Dermalog acquired Jenetric and plans to combine TFT scanners with liveness detection. Facial recognition was also a prominent theme of the week, whether in ATMs with NEC technology, in new laws or in court.
Top biometrics news of the week
Governments continue to look for ways to make travel processes easier and faster, with the EC proposing moving Schengen visa applications online, and Pakistan opening a new passport center in Islamabad. An executive with BLS International says governments are also including more suppliers of services, as it targets higher revenue from ancillary services as well as VFS Global’s market share.
Mofiria is contributing its vein authentication technology to a partnership with Isorg, which is bringing its TFT and tailored optic technologies to develop finger vein biometrics. The partners say their ultra-thin sensor is about a millimeter, with the near-infrared LED on the same plane as the film sensor, and could reach the market next year.
Optical fingerprint scanner-maker Jenetric has been acquired by Dermalog for undisclosed compensation, and will continue to operate as a subsidiary. The parties hope the combination of the former’s TFT tech and the latter’s liveness detection will deliver value to customers.
Thales has acquired cybersecurity company Tesserent for approximately $120 million to increase its footprint in Australia and New Zealand. The deal also gives it an indirect stake in Daltrey.
Cashierless stores operated by Amazon and Starbucks have drawn biometric data privacy lawsuits in New York. Plaintiffs in the potential class action allege the businesses collected customers’ palm biometrics on Amazon One scanners without properly informing them, and also shared and profited from the data in violation of the local Biometric Identifier Information Law.
Idex Biometrics CCO Catharina Eklof lays out the benefit that biometrics can have for the inclusion of women, and particularly refugee women, in financial systems. Refugee women often have low levels of formal education and literacy, which combine with language barriers and other challenges to pose tremendous barriers to social integration. Having more women in decision-making roles worldwide could help drive policy change, Eklof argues.
Cameroon has struck a deal with the French Development Agency to fund improvements in civil and birth registration. The funds will be disbursed to local councils in the West region. A Cameroonian official notes that there are many displaced persons in the region who have lost their civil registration documents.
France is a step closer to establishing a legal framework to test public facial recognition deployments, both in real-time and retrospectively, with a draft law passed by the Senate in a close vote. Real-time facial recognition can be used to search for terrorists, and certain other use cases with special authorization, during three years of testing. How the draft will fit with the country’s data protection laws and the incoming EU AI Act remains to be seen.
The AI Act is one step closer to passage with approval by the EU Parliament, despite an unsuccessful 11th-hour move to introduce exceptions to the prohibition on the use of real-time facial recognition in public spaces. The process now moves on to trilogues and is unlikely to be implemented before 2025.
Tech5 executives explained how the company’s social purpose drives its innovations in biometric technology and identity credentials in a huge group call with Biometric Update for a sponsored post. They say the world is moving towards decentralized digital identity and new uses of biometrics like offline ID verification, and discussed how the company maintains a focus on inclusion as it scales.
The ATMs found inside Japanese Seven-Elevens, operated by the bank owned by the same parent company, are planning to allow deposits and withdrawals with face biometrics by early next year. Roughly 13,000 of them already have the technology, and another 6,000 are being replaced this year with units from NEC.
HuffPost delves into the reason people are directed not to smile for the photos they use on passports and other identity documents. The ICAO standard is explained, and how it is driven by the remaining limitations in biometric verification systems.
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