Biometrics blend into daily life as a Rorschach test

Biometrics mean a lot of different things to different people. They are a method of forensic investigation, and a way to get through a lineup more quickly. They are tried, true and tested, and they are marvels of innovation based on cutting-edge technology.

Among this week’s top stories on Biometric Update, the technology is part of the new normal for air travel. It is a mix of new modalities and those that have been through years of NIST evaluations and international competitions. It’s a challenge to deploy while complying with regulations, as in Australian retail, and deployed to meet requirements, like for online age assurance. Biometrics and digital ID technologies continue to attract investors, and criticism over their potential privacy implications.

The new airport SOP

The U.S. government has moved to expand and make permanent CBP’s biometric exit program for travellers departing by air, land and sea except U.S. citizens who opt out. The step from pilot to production was approved by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs this week. It means that the face biometrics checks of all travellers as they leave the country will be standard operating procedure.

Airports in Perth, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand have announced deployments of passenger processing tech. Perth is using face biometrics for check-ins and bag drops with kiosks from Amadeus, while AKL is upgrading check-in kiosks and bag drop units to prepare for the shift to biometrics and digital travel credentials.

Amadeus has also successfully completed a test of the EUDI Wallet for flight check-in, bag drop, pre-security and boarding processes. The pilot was carried out in collaboration with Lufthansa, and will be followed with further testing for airport security, immigration and border control use cases.

Novel and independently tested modalities

A new hybrid biometric modality using gait and 3D body structure developed by Cursor Insight has been approved as forensic evidence for a murder case in an EU country. The company’s Ákos Molnár explains in an interview with Biometric Update how the technology works, and its potential as an investigative tool.

NIST has renamed and relaunched its FpVTE evaluation of one-to-many fingerprint biometric identification algorithms. Results for the initial entries to the Friction Ridge Image and Features (FRIF) E1N after 13 years off, from Tech5 and Innovatrics, show how far the technology has evolved in that time.

Presentation attack detection is not as well established for iris biometrics as facial recognition, but Dermalog’s performance in LivDet-Iris 2025 at IJCB showed strong performance differentiating spoofs from bona fide samples and detecting advanced fakes with contact lenses. Real-world payment scenarios and biometric morphing attacks remain challenging.

A regulatory or safety requirement

Australia’s privacy authority has ruled Kmart violated the law with its use of facial recognition to prevent refund fraud. The OAIC clarified, however, that the ruling does not effectively ban the technology; it just keeps a high standard for exceptions to rules around consent.

Privacy rules around identity data are only growing in importance for Australians as the country moves ahead with digitalization. Victor Dominello says digital ID and a national data-sharing platform could boost productivity by $21.3 billion Australian, and Microsoft estimates the country could save nearly $9 billion with digital government from the cloud.

OpenAI is moving to implement age inference as a safety measure for ChatGPT following reports that it may have encouraged a teen to commit suicide. It may also require age verification with an ID document in some countries. It may also face more lawsuits.

Age assurance is also the application that pushed Yoti to the top of the App Store charts in the wake of OSA enforcement in the UK. CEO Robin Tombs joins the Biometric Update Podcast to talk about the relationship between regulations and trust and the results of Australia’s recent trial for our latest episode.

A growth opportunity

The week’s headlines were also encouraging for those trying to find biometrics and digital identity technologies, with Seon’s $80 million series C leading the way. The company plans hiring, AI product development, and a global expansion of its AML and fraud prevention services. Trident has raised $2.6 million for the DRC Pass project through Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPE) financing, and Contactable announced $13.5 million in new funding to bring its KYC and digital identity onboarding to enterprises across Africa. And investors put $8 million Fabrix Security and $5.5 million into Scalekit as they build tools to secure enterprise networks travelled by AI agents.

Tech5 and Visa have cemented their relationship with a seven-year deal to collaborate on biometric digital identity wallets with payment functionalities to build into DPI systems. The companies have been working together for several years, most prominently in Ethiopia, and will plan to bring inclusive DPI to more governments.

A tool for and against law enforcement

A U.S. senator has addressed a letter to the Georgian owner and CEO of Dubai-registered PimEyes to demand information on what he knows about activists using his web-based facial recognition platform to identify masked immigration enforcement officials photographed during raids. The conflict combines the menace of 1984 with the ambition of Don Quixote and the absurdism of Waiting for Godot.

Please let us know if you spot any podcasts, panel discussions of other content we should share with those in biometrics and the digital identity community in the comments below or through social media.

Article Topics

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