Biometrics replacement of physical IDs hits another gear

Biometrics are now part of the entire travel process, and Goode Intelligence forecasts dramatic growth in the travel digital identities utilizing the technology to replace travel documents. The top articles of the week on Biometric Update reflect the shift away from physical identity documents, with another guest post from Thales’ influential Neville Pattinson noting a precedent for the pushback against airport biometrics, and Incognia’s CEO discussing mobile devices as a source of trust. American government agencies are preparing for mobile driver’s license adoption, with a collaboration involving Idemia, Mattr and Spruce ID unveiled and a guide for police to investigating crimes committed with them. Biometrics are filling age verification and self-service payment functions in alcohol sales and providing market opportunities for IDScan.net, Yoti, ITL, Clear and Wicket.

Top biometrics news of the week

Alan Goode, CEO and chief analyst at Goode Intelligence, introduces his concept of Biometric Enabled Seamless Travel (BEST) as the model for cross-sector biometrics adoption in an article contributed to Biometric Update. Travel digital identity is forecast to generate $4.6 billion in revenue from 2024 to 2029, with 725 million people using digital identity for air travel.

The TSA is facing complaints over its gradual adoption of biometrics for aviation security that echo its experience when introducing body scanners over a decade ago, Thales’ Neville Pattinson writes in another guest post. He explains why Senator Jeff Merkley’s concerns are misplaced, and introduces Thales’ “TrUE” principles for responsible biometrics. Pattinson was also named the new chair of the IBIA’s board of directors this week.

Researchers with a pair of U.S. universities argue in a new paper that when banks delegate authentication to digital wallets, the result is often weaker security. They recommend moving from KBA and weak MFA with OTPs to push MFA and continuous authentication tokens. The warning comes just as new research shows that digital wallets are catching on for identity verification and access control.

DHS S&T and USCIS are working together on creating and issuing digital credentials with open standards, which could lead to contracts to produce immigration documents based on VCs and DIDs. S&T has already been working on preventing the forgery of credentials and IDs, and also wants to improve the privacy protections built into them.

An executive order has been drafted for President Joe Biden to sign which would add significant federal support to state mobile driver’s license programs. The draft EO on mDLs is expected to regulate and require alternatives to face biometrics, if signed, but the role of Login.gov and ID.me is reportedly a sticking point.

NIST’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence is working with 15 organizations, including Idemia, Mattr and SpruceID on resources for aligning financial sector mDL adoption with standards and best practices for digital identity. Banks, government agencies and the OpenID Foundation are also involved, and a community of interest is still under construction.

DHS S&T’s efforts on mDLs also include guidance for law enforcement officials on how to investigate financial fraud committed with digital IDs. The guidance refers to real crimes committed with digital driver’s licenses, details what can be used as digital evidence, and highlights potential challenges to obtaining it.

Age verification is now legally required for alcohol sales in Pennsylvania, which IDScan.net points out protects against liability. Meanwhile the absence of an equivalent law in the UK prevents the technology firms like Yoti and ITL are already deploying for age checks from being used to their full benefit. In American stadiums, Clear and Wicket see a ready growth area for biometric alcohol sales.

Incognia is hoping to reach half a billion people using its location behavior analytics as a fraud protection layer by the end of the year, CEO André Ferraz tells Biometric Update in an interview. Ferraz discusses the importance of real-time decisions in the gig economy and pushes back on the hype around AI as a tool to fight fraud.

ID30 is putting together advice for how countries can digitalize their civil registration and level identity systems in an effective and sustainable way. A draft with 7 recommendations has been published, and the consultancy is seeking feedback and partners on the project.

Readers were also curious about Catherina Eklof taking the chief executive position at Idex Biometrics, in a promotion from the COO role.

Please tell us about any podcasts, blog posts or other content we should share with those in the biometrics and digital identity community in the comments below or through social media.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  identity verification  |  week in review