Ambitious biometric products aim for consumer adoption
Three very different biometrics products for consumers are among the topics of the most-read articles of the week on Biometric Update; weapons, digital IDs, and payment cards. Pre-orders of the smart gun from Biofire are being taken now, Germans are enrolling their irises to get World IDs from Worldcoin, and one of Asia’s top payment card manufacturers has won an approval for cards made with biometric technology from Zwipe and Idex. The ongoing march of age restrictions for online content and the latest accuracy scores and imaging techniques for facial recognition also made headlines.
Top biometrics news of the week
The rules for restricting underage access to pornography in the latest version of the UK’s Online Safety Bill could result in widespread processing of children’s data, civil society groups warn. Yoti CEO Robin Tombs says a balance must be struck, but may never satisfy all parties. Meanwhile state governments in the U.S. continue to enact age verification rules for social media and online pornography.
Biofire’s biometric handgun is heading to market, with pre-orders on now, but not to regulators in New Jersey, which would trigger a rule for firearms retailers to stock smart guns. The company’s CEO says the gun’s facial recognition works well in the dark, and its lead designer says it authenticates users with face or fingerprints; whichever it matches first.
Facial recognition developers from the United States have not scored the highest accuracy in any of the categories on NIST testing for a long time, but the recent FRVT 1:1 Verification update shows a couple of newcomers, Omnigarde and Armatura, in strong relative position. Their algorithms are topped by American incumbents Paravision and Rank One Computing, with several other U.S.-based vendors among the more accurate ones evaluated.
Specific imaging sensors for 3D facial recognition and iris biometrics have been identified as areas of research with promising potential for use on Europe’s borders by Frontex, along with contactless friction ridge recognition. The paper explaining the project catalogues a wide range of biometric technologies, and aims to help planning for the EU’s EES system.
An American company that develops 3D imaging technology, Lumentum, is being sued by a former employee who alleges it discriminated against him because he is Asian, ABC News reports. The plaintiff claims he created and developed a 3D sensing and facial recognition product line that has brought in $1 billion in revenue.
Worldcoin is now issuing its digital ID to people in Germany so they can prove their uniqueness and personhood (proof they are not bots) online. The country launch of World ID and the Worldcoin digital wallet are accompanied by the deployment of its Orbs to collect iris biometrics from sign-ups.
Taiwanese manufacturer BCC has had its biometric payment card built with technology from Zwipe and Idex Biometrics approved by Mastercard. BCC’s stature in the Asian payments market could set up issuance through multiple banks, following a commercial launch partnership in the Middle East.
DNA biometrics have matured enough to be practical for use in public service delivery, Veridos Head of Verification Corinna Schindler writes in a guest post for Biometric Update. The technology has advanced for beyond many common conceptions of it, with rapid DNA presenting potential data protection benefits compared to other modalities, Schindler writes.
Kenya’s government says it has digitized close to 5,000 public services through the Gava Mkononi platform. An accompanying public education campaign will introduce people to digital signatures. The country’s new administration also intends to start using the new UPI digital ID within the next three months, meanwhile.
Thailand’s ThaID app has been launched to ease user authentication for public services from 44 agencies. The governments of Sri Lanka, Poland, Macau and Jordan advanced projects to issue digital ID cards or replace physical credentials, as well.
A legal challenge to Germany’s inclusion of biometric data on national ID cards faces a new setback, with a non-binding opinion from an advocate general with the EU’s top court. The opinion finds the collection of fingerprint data for mandatory ID cards is valid under various EU laws.
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