Biometrics market players level-up from startups to heavyweight incumbents

Biometric ID card contracts won by Madras Security Printers in the top stories of the week on Biometric Update illustrate the growing influence of India’s digital identity ecosystem on the global market. The merger of ForgeRock and Ping Identity results in a similar step-change for an IAM market leader, while a PopID marketing appearance shows the growing pains that face the players in a segment moving into the mainstream.

Top biometrics news of the week

A pilot project of air passengers using digital travel credentials to fly from Finland to the UK or Croatia has been launched. Participants can use the DTC to pass border control on departure using only their phone, after registering to an app by submitting their passport and a selfie.

Kuwait has registered the fingerprints of more than a million people as it works towards a goal of building a database with the biometrics of all people over 18 years old in the country; about 3 million in total. The database is intended to improve the country’s security, but also enable a digital identity for access to public services.

An internet platform launched earlier this year by Cameroon to enroll the biometrics of visa applicants and issue their travel documents stopped working in many countries this week, due to unspecified technical issues. Burkina Faso, meanwhile, joined Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea as the third African country to launch an online portal for visa applications in August.

Madras Security Printers will provide one million pre-personalized ID cards for Ethiopia’s digital identity program under a new contract, for which the company beat out 10 local and international firms. The cards will include biometrics and be used for access to public services and onboarding for new bank accounts. The contract win follows another for Madras Security Printers, to supply ID cards for Sri Lanka’s national digital identity. A deal was already in place to ensure an Indian supplier for the cards, but the selection of Madras Security Printers has raised data protection concerns.

Kenya, Mozambique and Namibia are all reportedly in talks with India’s government to deploy digital payment systems based on the UPI platform. Digital payments in each country would utilize the national digital ID, allowing for greater financial inclusion. The negotiations are part of a push by India to export digital public infrastructure.

Thoma Bravo followed up its receipt of final approval from the U.S. Justice Department for the acquisition of ForgeRock by merging it with Ping Identity. The combined entity appears to retain Ping’s branding, and will mean faster delivery of digital identity services to enterprise customers, the private equity firm says.

Upcoming changes to the privacy policy of social media platform X were announced and set off a round of worried coverage. The Register astutely sees a possible connection to the BIPA lawsuit the company is fighting. Biometric Update reported last week that the company appeared to be introducing selfie biometrics for identity verification supplied by Au10tix, and would be storing selfie data.

A promotional event held by PopID at a California university demonstrated the company’s biometric retail payment technology, but also the importance of managing expectations. Students without another option were unhappy. Privacy advocates are unhappy with the growth of biometrics in the retail industry in general.

Veridas CEO Eduardo Azanza explains the role of NIST’s work in guiding ethical development of AI and biometrics in a guest post for Biometric Update. Azanza reviews how the guidance can help businesses increase their transparency, alignment with international standards and ensure reliable technical architecture, and offers advice for following them.

Stories of deepfake fraud are accumulating, and are showing up in police busts of criminal rings like one broken up recently in Hong Kong. Observers are warning that technologies for detecting deepfakes may need more work to rid themselves of demographic weaknesses.

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Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  facial recognition  |  identity verification  |  week in review