Biometrics deployments at scale need transparency to help businesses, gain trust

The importance of biometrics testing and transparency are a recurring theme in this week’s top news stories on Biometric Update. As adoption invites scrutiny, more biometrics evaluations, completed assessments and testing options come available. Communication is part of the same issue, with major projects like EES, U.S. immigration and protest enforcement, and more pedestrian applications like access control and mDLs all taking off. The expectations they carry can only be fulfilled with adequate clarity.

Success and expectations

While all 29 Schengen area countries must have EES biometrics in place by the April deadline, they will have the option of taking longer to begin using them. The European Commission confirmed that 90-day temporary suspensions will be permitted, and 60-day extensions are also being considered.

Brazil is working towards mandating biometric boarding for all commercial flights and maritime departures to cut down on document fraud while also reducing operational costs. A draft policy is now open for consultation, and the first sea port pilot has begun.

Biometric physical access control is growing everywhere, but with some key sectorial and regional differences, Goode Intelligence Chief Analyst Alan Goode explains in a preview of his firm’s latest market research report on the latest episode of the Biometric Update Podcast.

Imprivata could soon be on the market, with PE owner Thoma Bravo working with JPMorgan and Evercore to begin exploring its options. The healthcare-focussed authentication and access management firm could fetch up to $7 billion, according to early reports, a decade after being taken private for $544 million.

mDLs ahead

A panel at the “Identity, Authentication, and the Road Ahead 2026” event looked at NIST’s work on a playbook to help businesses implement mDLs. Representatives from the NCCoE, Better Identity Coalition, PNC Bank and AAMVA discussed the emerging situation, in which digital verifiable credentials are available, but people don’t know how to use them.

American mDLs could get federal support, if a bill introduced to U.S. Congress this week becomes law. HR 7270 has bipartisan sponsorship and would direct the Treasury Department to lead a government-wide approach to ID verification to slash fraud and identity theft rates. The Better Identity Coalition endorsed the legislation at the Road Ahead event. The organization’s Coordinator Jeremy Grant also explained the role and scope of its voluntary code of conduct for mDLs and verifiable digital credentials, for which it is currently taking feedback on an initial draft.

Better late than never

Another bipartisan bill, this one targeting social media scams, has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. The SCAM Act seeks to bring some accountability to platforms for making money from fraudulent ads.

A plague of scams infesting social media have also sparked concern in the APAC region. Singapore has ordered Meta to increase its use of facial recognition to stem the tide.

Biometrics testing

DHS S&T found 5 of 16 selfie biometrics providers met the performance goals of its Remote Identity Validation Rally, Shufti and Paravision among them. RIVR’s first phase showed that demographically similar imposters still pose a significant problem for many face biometrics developers.

John Howard has revealed AI testing and auditing firm Sensus AI his post-MdTF endeavour. The company brings together “PhD-level, internationally recognized scientists” to help ensure biometrics and AI system perform accurately and are bias-free. The former SAIC and MdTF chief data scientist tells Biometric Update in an email interview that he believes the rapidly increasing adoption of these technologies will require a significant toughening of transparency requirements to deliver on their promise.

PAD standard compliance testing has been keeping iBeta busy, including recent Level 2 assessments Iris ID, Alibaba Cloud, Privy, Regula and Compal Electronics Brazil. Details of Neurotechnology’s biometric liveness detection passing BixeLab’s Level 2 have also come out.

The watchers

ICE is considering whether it can apply ad tech that uses location data to deliver targeted messages for investigations. An RFI seeks information on how big data analytics can yield location data while complying with regulations and “privacy expectations.”

NEC NeoFace, the facial recognition technology built into ICE’s Mobile Fortify app, is used by UK police, and so has been through testing by the NPL. It is also used in a variety of other applications around the world, including airports, sporting events and fast-food restaurants in the U.S. This is the facial recognition technology, along with Clearview AI and the FBI’s NGI, that are now using to investigate protestors in Minneapolis.

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Article Topics

biometric testing  |  biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  week in review