US selfie biometrics test RIVR running, chance to dive in for track 2 coming soon

The due date for applications to the second track of the Remote Identity Validation Rally (RIVR) from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is set to be announced soon.

The RIVR program was announced in March to replace the Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstration (RIVTD) conducted last year.

The final deadline for docker submissions to the Selfie Match to Document track by biometrics providers that were accepted in April are due on May 23. Details for the submission were shared in a March presentation by Yevgeniy Sirotin of the Maryland Test Facility (MdTF), where the tests will be conducted, and DHS S&T Senior Advisor for Biometric and Identity Technologies Arun Vemury.

The Document Validation track is planned for the summer of 2025, and evaluations for biometric presentation attack detection (PAD), or Face Liveness technology, are expected to be held in the fall. That means the first deadline for track 2 will likely come during June or July.

The results of RIVTD provided a snapshot of the state-of-the-art in remote biometric onboarding technologies, and helped to inform digital identity guidelines from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

They showed the maturity of facial recognition technology relative to document authentication and liveness detection. Vemury points out in a post to the S&T website that these technologies “have not had the historical benefit of that same level of testing and feedback” the U.S. government has dedicated to face biometrics with programs such as NIST’s FRTE (formerly known as FRVT).

S&T directs tech development towards common benefit

RIVR represents S&T’s equivalent model for public-private partnerships to advance technologies that can benefit multiple sectors, and Vemury anticipates it will yield similar performance improvements to those seen in recent years in face biometrics.

“These technology challenges can create a level playing field with clear rules and success criteria to evaluate innovative commercial technology solutions,” he writes. “Running evaluations like these on a regular basis can help developers plan and iteratively make improvements. We are working towards automating the process to make it easier for companies to submit their technologies for future evaluations and have additional rallies planned.”

Business, the government and the public benefit from greater transparency about the effectiveness of emerging technologies, and developers get direction on how to invest their resources.

“This model has been such a success,” Vemury writes, “we plan to expand its use.”

Article Topics

biometric liveness detection  |  DHS S&T  |  document verification  |  facial recognition  |  presentation attack detection  |  remote identity proofing  |  Remote Identity Validation Rally (RIVR)  |  selfie biometrics