Government biometrics contracts present opportunity now, attribute claims soon

Demand for biometrics in established applications like national ID programs and border control is strong, as seen in several of the week’s most-read articles on Biometric Update, but newer applications like facial age estimation and deepfake detection are just taking off. Contracts are being tendered or at least considered for airport biometrics in the U.S., a digital identity consultant in the Philippines, and digital credential issuance in New Zealand, while Sri Lanka expects to have revenue to reinvest in its digital transformation soon.

Top biometrics news of the week

An RFI from the TSA indicates a shift in its Screening Partnership Program towards turnkey biometrics and digital ID screening solutions fully integrated and delivered by the private sector. The SPP has a 10-year, $5.5 billion contract vehicle to use when replacing the current round of contracts, which expire midway through next year.

The Philippines is looking for a consultant to help it manage transactions for its national digital identity program under a public-private partnership. The opportunity is worth up to $390,000, and it open to firms from Asian Development Bank-member countries.

In reflections on ID4Africa 2025, Jean Lindner of Thales and Stéphanie de Labriolle of the Secure Identity Alliance each brought up international standards like OSIA, as well as the diversity of African nations. Lindner points out the choice the standards can unlock, while de Labriolle warns that policymakers need to engage with technical experts before consulting governments to properly apply the technology to their situation.

New Zealand’s advance notice of an RFP for digital credential issuance expires next Tuesday, so more details about the DIA’s planned tender should come soon. It will be the latest in a series of contracts as the country builds around its Digital Identity Services Trust Framework.

Sri Lankan government officials believe the GovPay digital payments platform it launched earlier this year can bring more than $3 billion over the next four or five years. GovPay is one of the major applications the country is in the process of building up around its digital ID, the SL-UDI.

Some consider it “Censorship Day” and others about time someone finally thought of the children, but there is little arguing that the Online Safety Act altered the way the internet works in the UK when it came into force this week. It also ushers in a new market for age verification and biometric facial age estimation that appears to be growing rapidly around the world.

A new potential market for facial age estimation may have been discovered, as another input for people performing age assessments of migrants to the UK. Children are handled differently by the system, so misrepresentations and disputes are common. A policy suggestion in Parliament this week will be followed by a tender in August.

U.S. lawmakers have requested the FBI review the inclusion of biometric devices from dozens of Chinese companies on its Certified Products List and consider removing them. Each vendor is connected to Chinese intelligence, sanctioned entities or repression, they say, and cite national security concerns, as well as consistency in messaging in asking for their removal.

The White House dispelled any worries among AI developers that regulation could impede the development and commercialization of the technology with the release of its “Action Plan.” The plan also commits America to spend vast sums on energy, data centers and chips to win a race to a breathlessly-described “golden age of human flourishing.”

Socure’s Jordan Burris noted in an interview last week with The Federal Drive with Terry Gerton that a lot of agencies are leaning into AI, but what is really needed is a federal strategy for digital identity. He also highlights the importance of AI to curb threats, including from other nations.

Startup IdentifAI has raised $5.8 million in funding to scale its deepfake detection for the international market, while Keyless has introduced a Biometric Attack Prevention technology, and Reality Defender has appointed a new CTO. The threat is all too real, as shown by a wave of fraudulent applicants for an engineering job at Pindrop – who turned out to be North Korean hackers.

An Australian bank treated the use of on-device biometrics to log into its app to authorize a payment as proof that a dispute of that payment was fraudulent. BixeLab CEO Ted Dunstone points out that native device biometrics are not identity-bound, and the community needs to make that clear.

Police in New York City and Cleveland have botched a pair of investigations by violating rules with their use of Clearview AI’s facial recognition. The former case has been thrown out, and prosecutors say the other is a “lost cause.” The failures damage the reputations of their departments, but also erode public trust in the technology more generally.

Please let us know if you spot any podcasts, columns or other content you think we should share with the people in biometrics and the digital identity community in the comments below or via social media.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  week in review