Newer biometrics entrants, applications and techniques drawing attention

The big money stakes for biometrics are on display in the top stories of the week on Biometric Update, with a report of improper influence involving Facewatch’s retail biometrics, the seven-figure acquisition of biometric system integrator Infinite ID and a million-dollar early funding round for federated digital identity provider OneID. The potential reward has prompted Amazon and Innovatrics to invest in synthetic data, while Fuse and Zwipe show progress in opening up the biometric access control card market, and Socure makes its claim on a stake in the emerging age verification market. ConnectID’s CEO shares his views on how digital identity can scale for everyday use.

Top biometrics news of the week

The Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation successfully registered a fake ID with a facial image of a monkey to buy a mobile phone account, as it looked into the system’s susceptibility to fraud. The country’s telecoms are asking for access to government ID issuers to validate SIM registration attempts, and the chair of the public services committee suggest facial recognition could help.

UK Policing Minister Chris Philp intervened in the ICO investigation into Facewatch’s retail facial recognition system through the Home Office, recently discovered government emails show. The data regulator says it was not influenced in its finding (which was that Facewatch is legal, with some caveats), but the government has earned a scolding from Big Brother Watch.

Airport biometrics continue to expand in countries around the world, with positive reports out of South Korea and new face biometrics requirements for domestic travelers and people making international connections within the UK. In the U.S., CBP is shifting its goal and how it counts biometric checks, from the number of flights to the number of passengers.

Global background check provider First Advantage has acquired biometric software and integration company Infinite ID for $41 million. The deal gives First Advantage a bigger footprint in the U.S. and compliments its digital identity services for better applicant experiences, the company says.

OneID has raised $1.3 million in venture capital funding to further develop its bank-verified digital ID products. It is OneID’s second institutional investment. The startup seeks to do something similar for the UK to what itsme has done in Belgium with federated digital identity.

Synthetic data is seen by some biometrics developers as the way to train neural networks without breaching data privacy laws. Amazon is building a database of AI-generated palm biometrics, while Innovatrics is anticipating even more difficulty ethically sourcing training data with the passage of the EU’s AI Act.

A satirical article in The New Yorker has Worldcoin apologizing for a breach of iris scan data, or “eyeballs.” The piece, perhaps inadvertently, sends up the fear that biometric hashes could be used against data subjects.

Employee onboarding can reach a higher level of assurance by cross-referencing data from authoritative sources, which sets up stronger corporate security through biometric authentication, 1Kosmos VP of Product Marketing Rob MacDonald writes in a Biometric Update guest post. MacDonald enumerates the benefits of this approach and provides advice for CSOs automating onboarding processes.

As young people in the Northern Hemisphere return to school, Socure sees a looming challenge to prevent online sales and deliveries from enabling underage drinking and making delivery drivers’ jobs harder. Age verification through selfie biometrics can automate purchasing restrictions without unduly burdening legal consumers, the company argues.

Access control may be gaining ground on payments as the top application for biometric cards. Fuse Identities has formed a partnership to provide biometric cards for access control to Danish company Sanistaal. A Swedish company has selected Zwipe’s fingerprint access cards for integration with its security systems.

Simprints wants to contract a consultant to perform an assessment of Ethiopia’s digital health information system and find the areas that can be improved with biometric identity verification. Simprints has been working with Ethiopia’s government since 2019, and wants to be able to continue fundraising with a high-level proposal for this project.

Australia is making good progress on digital identity, but needs to continue working to ensure data minimization and cross-sector interoperability, ConnectID Managing Director Andrew Black tells Biometric Update in an interview. Black also discussed the respective roles of government and private industry in the digital ID ecosystem, and where ConnectID fits in.

Time has recognized IPVM Founder John Honovich as one of the “100 Most Influential People in AI” for his contribution to understanding the Chinese government’s use of facial recognition for repression. Congratulations to John and the IPVM team.

Please let us know about any thought leadership, interviews or other content we should share with the people who work in biometrics and the broader digital identity community in the comments below or through social media.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital identity  |  facial recognition  |  identity verification  |  week in review