Biometrics options and digital ID choices provide needed nuance but vex some govts

Biometrics can be stored, tokenized and applied in myriad ways depending on the requirements of a given application, and the decisions about how to implement them are critical to shaping digital transformation, as seen in this week’s top articles on Biometric Update. Alternative ways to ensure integrity online, like those from World and Billions, and in-person, like mDLs and credentials from Tech5, are scaling up. Governments are having mixed results in their efforts to anticipate the consequences of choices between these different options.

No alternative

World’s model for ensuring integrity in online interactions by using iris biometrics to establish uniqueness and “proof of humanity” continues to run afoul of regulators, this time in Thailand, where it has been ordered based on allegations of violating consent requirements to cease World ID issuance and delete the biometric data it collected in the country. There is no alternative for very (very) hard work, some believe, which is why employees at World parent Tools for Humanity are expected to work weekend and always be on call, Business Insider reports.

Government ID decisions

A public oversight body estimates the UK’s plan for a government-issued, mandatory national digital ID will cost  £1.8 billion over 3 years. Support for the plan was low before the OBR suggested skepticism that existing investments will cover the cost, and while private industry might have shored up a somewhat different plan, it is instead left fighting for the lower-cost DIATF system already in place.

More than a million people are enrolled for Somalia’s national ID, and 24 public and private sector services connected to it, officials said during a national conference on the rollout of the World Bank-backed system this week. NIRA says more services are coming, as it prepares to roll out a digital ID next year.

Establishing digital company IDs would allow the UK government to better support the private sector, the Tony Blair Institute argues in a new paper. It recommends setting business digital identity up by 2027 under the management of Companies House.

Pubs in Queensland, Australia are accepting digital IDs using a verifier app developed by the state. But mDLs from neighboring NSW cannot be verified with the app, and bartenders are finding fakes. In the UK meanwhile, pubs will not be getting digital ID acceptance for Christmas after all.

Papua New Guinea has launched its national digital identity, developed by Tech5, in decentralized form with storage in a digital wallet. The SevisPass and SevisWallet  launch follows a successful pilot last year.

Age assurance options

Alternatives are important in age assurance, which is why Snap has implemented both ConnectID for zero-knowledge age verification with bank data and k-ID for ID document scans or biometric age estimation in Australia. Age checks will be required to prove social media users are at least 16 by December 10, unless the government pulls the hand-brake.

Privacy concerns around age assurance should not be limited to centralized identity models, Billions Network CEO Evin McMullin tells the Biometric Update Podcast. The company’s combination of blockchain and mobile-first verification with Privado ID biometrics provides a powerful alternative way to address emerging regulations.

Security choices

ATO scams involving impersonation of financial institutions the FBI’s IC3 is warning Americans about prey on systems that rely on easily-compromised credentials despite the availability of better alternatives, Saviynt’s Jim Routh comments to Biometric Update. The industry is tackling the challenge with resources like those just released by Persona, Shufti Pro and the Biometrics Institute.

Identity verification processes broke down during the handoff of the U.S. executive administration, according to the Center for Presidential Transition, with the Trump team declining to use the .gov infrastructure. The result of bypassed background checks means it is now unknown if individuals with improper access currently hold federal government credentials.

New paths to established goals

EU member states have agreed to establish a legal basis for a travel app to utilize digital travel credentials for the EES biometric border control system. But an app already exists, and Travel to Europe is already live in Sweden with capabilities that appear to match those sought.

And the United Arab Emirates has stepped up as a donor for digital transformation in Africa, pledging $1 billion towards digital public infrastructure on the continent to be managed by the Abu Dhabi Exports Office, ADEX.

If you see any online presentations, case studies or other content we should share with the people in biometrics and the digital identity community, please let us know in the comments below or through social media.

Article Topics

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