Face biometrics use cases outnumbered only by important considerations

With face biometrics now used regularly in many different sectors and areas of life, stakeholders are asking questions about a wide range of details. Top stories of the week on Biometric Update reflect the importance of details in regulation, testing, new technology and partnerships involving facial recognition and authentication, across law enforcement, government contract opportunities, online age checks, smartphones and airport tech. Elsewhere, experiences in the UK and Sri Lanka show that the early stages of national ID projects are filled with pitfalls.

National ID trust and sustainability

Trust in national identity systems is vital but fragile, even in the planning stages, as seen in the UK and Sri Lanka.

Tony Allen of the ACCS warns against governments building their own digital ID systems on grounds they are not as good at maintaining their effectiveness over time. But responses to the UK’s consultation by Richard Oliphant and the ADVP warn that even if the government can manage the digital ID as a product, there are legal market competition reasons it cannot.

Allen argues that digital ID is more like a product than infrastructure, but ComplyCube CPO Harry Varatharasan makes the case in a Biometric Update guest post that establishing trust and preventing fraud across sectors at scale makes ID verification exactly that.

Sri Lanka’s government added Madras Security Printers to the short list of bidders for the Master Systems Integrator contract for the country’s national digital ID after it published its initial list. The irregularity is drawing criticism from a civil society group, which referred to a previous issue in a tender involving the same company.

UK tenders

The UK Home Office has launched two market engagements: an initial step for SCBP and a third round for producing the country’s biometric passports.

The platform, which is used for biometrics, identity and law enforcement applications, may change significantly to include new technologies or delivery models based on two potential future procurements.

Thales holds the current passport contract, and the replacement has grown to £576 million over 12 years.

The Department for Work and Pensions has a £2 million tender out for surveillance hardware and software for use in benefits fraud investigations.

Age restrictions target VPNs and AI chatbots

Lawmakers in Utah have tightened the language in a bill targeting the use of VPNs to get around age assurance. The EFF warns that legal risk could push websites to ban traffic from VPNs, and NordVPN warns that is not technically possible, so all users will have to be subjected to age checks just in case they are in Utah.

U.S. legislators are also considering age verification at the federal level, with a pair of bills that would impose restrictions on AI chatbots.

Across the border, Canada’s privacy regulator has set out guidelines for what age assurance would have to look like. The guidance sets out principles for compliant — meaning privacy-preserving — age checks, taking lessons from the UK and Australia.

An independent report suggests one of the key lessons from the UK is that for the Online Safety Act to deliver its intended effect, enforcement must be robust.

Face biometrics testing, innovation, regulation and deployments

CLR Labs has been accredited to the ISO standard for testing laboratories by COFRAC. Since COFRAC is the NAB, that means CLR’s PAD, IAD and biometrics performance evaluation services are now recognized throughout the EU.

Metalenz has developed an under-display payment-grade face biometric authentication system for smartphones with its optical metasurface technology. Polar ID UDC debuted at Display Week, and the company says it blocks all spoof attempts.

UK Biometrics Commissioners past and present are united in their view that the legal underpinning for police use of facial recognition is inadequate and must be fixed. A look at existing policies and similarity thresholds shows a kaleidoscope of approaches and beliefs about the technology’s effectiveness.

New strategic partners Leidos and Idemia Public Security plan to deploy biometric eGates and CAT-2s in American airports rapidly at scale. Smooth integrations can help move passengers through quickly with high security, they say.

Teresa Wu of Idemia Public Security and the Security Industry Association joins the Biometric Update Podcast to discuss the SIA’s new Corporate Credential Design Guide.

Congratulations to the Okta’s Identity 25 for 2026. The list includes recent guests of the Biometric Update Podcast as well as ID4Africa EC Dr. Joseph Atick.

Biometric Update will report from on location at ID4Africa’s 2026 AGM in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire next week.

Please let us know if you spot any video presentations, podcasts or other content you would like us to share with the people in biometrics and the digital identity community, either using the comment form below or through social media.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  digital identity  |  week in review