Biometrics providers squeezed between speed expectations and lengthy processes

Rapid evolution is something of a cliched concept in biometrics, but so many of the market areas and major projects move on longer time cycles that understanding them often requires taking a step back. The most-read articles of the week on Biometric Update furnish several examples.

Missed moments, opening windows of opportunity, deadlines, attempts to bring fast implementations to a screeching halt, and eventual successes are all part of the digital identity market’s dynamism.

Top biometrics news of the week

Biometric payment cards were the next big thing, in the heady pre-pandemic (and mostly pre-digital wallet) days. Goode Intelligence CEO and Chief Analyst Alan Goode breaks down why fingerprint-enabled credit and debit cards did not catch on, the impact on companies like Zwipe, Fingerprint Cards and Idex Biometrics, and what opportunity exists today in a guest post.

Phones continue to take a more prominent place in consumer interactions with organizations, and Canada is the latest country to establish a national standard for digital identity. The standard is intended to help public and private sector implementations, and could spur the provinces to finally act on mDLs.

Sri Lanka’s fast advance towards a national digital ID system could be brought to a halt by a legal petition alleging a raft of violations in the implementation of the SL-UDI. Another petition to the Supreme Court has reportedly been filed, but not yet received by the ICTA, possibly due to a mail strike.

The EU’s shared Biometric Matching System from Idemia Public Security and Sopra Steria has been declared ready for the launch of the EES, five years after the contract was awarded. EES is scheduled for a phased rollout from October to next April.

Figures from June show Nigeria has to issue 59 million more digital IDs before the end of 2026 to meet revised terms for its World Bank loan. NIMC has expanded enrollment centers and enlisted the help of youth service corps members as it races to meet the deadline.

As new technology, every deployment of live facial recognition by UK police adds a little more direct evidence, amounting to 13 arrests in this case, to a small pool. But understanding what the data means can take time and debate, as evidenced by a disagreement between a professor and Met Police about how to interpret the 2023 NPL report.

In travel, its rules around data minimization that need to catch up to take advantage of digital passport technology that is ready now, IATA’s Louise Cairney writes in a guest post.

The First Amendment was adopted in America in 1791, so applying it to online age verification laws in 2025 takes some abstract thinking. But abstract language is papering over real differences in the kind of content that is being considered for age restrictions, the CDT points out.

NIST shows the extent of improvement in the accuracy of facial age estimation algorithms in its latest FATE report. The latest edition adds new entries from Cognitec, Idemia, Innovatrics and Yoti.

Malawi is now weeks away from general elections, and biometric voter verification devices from Smartmatic have been arriving for installation.

Be prepared

A few new opportunities drew readers’ attention this week as well.

An opportunity is coming soon for a small business to provide technology for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Biometric Authentication Pilot. A notice providing details on the procurement plan this week follows the release of a PWS in May.

The introduction of a bundle of hybrid cloud infrastructure and services for national digital identity programs has been introduced by AWS. The launch responds to the additional barrier that data center access can put on some countries. AWS uses MOSIP as an example for how its Outposts would work.

Tickets are now available for the EAB Research Projects Conference, which is being held on September 22 as part of Darmstadt Biometrics Week. A pair of keynotes and reviews of six projects will showcase the latest advances in biometrics and identity management.

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

Article Topics

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