IntelliVision censured for misleading biometric accuracy and bias claims by FTC

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has slapped IntelliVision with a consent order to halt claims about the accuracy of its face biometrics and liveness detection software than it cannot adequately support.

IntelliVision’s claims that its facial recognition is free from gender and racial bias and is among the most accurate on the market were not backed up by evidence, according to the FTC. Further, the company’s claims to have trained its biometric algorithms on millions of faces were found to be false, IntelliVision having really used images of approximately 100,000 people “and then used technology to create variants of those same images.”

The company’s presentation attack detection technology was advertised as ensuring protection against spoofing with photos or videos, which was also found to lack support.

IntelliVision is now banned from making any claims about the accuracy, lack of bias or spoof protection unless it can be backed by “competent and reliable testing.”

The problem is not that such testing has not been performed.  It is that testing by NIST shows matching rates that vary between different demographics, and does not show a false non-match rate within the top 100 for the last software submitted by the company to the FRTE 1:1, in December, 2023. IntelliVision had also submitted an algorithm to NIST’s FRTE 1:N in 2022, which currently sits 74th in Border ΔT ≥ 10 YRS and 95th in the Visa-Kiosk category.

The FTC observed the discrepancies between claims and fact beginning in late-2018, soon after the company was acquired by Nortek Security & Control. IntelliVision’s facial recognition is used in smart home systems such as panels sold by Nice North America, the FTC notes.

The Commission voted unanimously to issue the complaint and accept the company’s settlement agreement. Each violation of the agreement will incur a civil penalty of up to $51,744.

A biometrics policy statement from the FTC last year focussed mainly on data protection issues, but action against Rite Aid settled later in the year touched on both data protection and the software’s effectiveness.

The Commission has also published a blog post with tips for biometrics providers on how “to avoid breaking the law and misleading consumers.”

Article Topics

accuracy  |  biometric bias  |  biometric testing  |  biometrics  |  face biometrics  |  facial recognition  |  FTC  |  IntelliVision  |  marketing  |  NIST