TL;DR
- Microsoft has published a research paper demonstrating that it is possible to train facial analysis algorithms just using synthetic data, before deploying them in real-life scenarios
- Researchers with the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security have developed a way to correct how much light reflects off of the skin of a person in a photograph used for face biometrics
- Amazon has announced a series of new updates last week, focusing on the biometric capabilities of some of its hardware products, as well as on the company’s AWS marketplace
- Google’s Android will enable people to control some navigation with gesture recognition based on facial expressions. Apple’s accessibility feature is a side benefit of its mobile driving license work
- Mozilla has updated its Firefox Focus mobile browser with new biometric privacy features and visual effects
- Humanode testnet probes structural limits of cryptobiometric blockchain system
- Startup Unissey passes biometric presentation attack detection test, first by French lab CLR
- Visa selects Callsign to deliver behavioral biometrics, device intelligence
- Sensory speech recognition for children could transform apps, wearables, and education tech
- Paravision launches Android facial recognition SDK for custom app development. Previously, Paravision unveiled edge AI toolkits for facial recognition applications
- B-Secur releases SDK to boost heartbeat biometrics development
- Cubox tops NIST face biometrics test for visa kiosks, Trueface third in matching speed
- Keyless patents privacy-focused, cross-platform biometric authentication method
- Fingerprint Cards and Infineon move biometric authentication within cards’ secure element
- Thales, Idemia biometrics deployed to new airports to ease traveler experience
- Tech5 contactless fingerprint biometrics for mobile devices unveiled
- Innovatrics launches biometrics enrolment app and rapid remote passport reader
- BioCatch launches behavioral biometrics-based Age Analysis to protect elderly from fraud
- Veridas sees strong voice biometrics adoption by call centers, Auraya accredited by AWS
- Timor-Leste to launch iris biometrics payments with IrisGuard, EyeTrust partnership
- Nice strengthens building automation position with $285M Nortek Control acquisition
- US spends $239M on digital identity projects
- Biometrics from birth — South Africa seeks to end child trafficking, welfare fraud
- London mayor sets out a plan for smart city biometrics with Emerging Technology Charter
- The promise of knowledge distillation for debiasing biometric PAD discussed in EAB event
- Socure, Onfido and Trulioo crack CB Insights’ Fintech 250
- Biometrics industry events. And more
Biometrics Market
The Biometric system market size is projected to grow from USD 36.6 billion in 2020 to USD 68.6 billion by 2025; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.4% during the forecast period. Increasing use of biometrics in consumer electronic devices for authentication and identification purposes, the growing need for surveillance and security with the heightened threat of terrorist attacks, and the surging adoption of biometric technology in automotive applications are the major factor propelling the growth of the biometric system market.
Biometric Research & Development
Latest Research:
Microsoft demonstrates facial analysis in the wild using just synthetic data
Microsoft has published a research paper demonstrating that it is possible to train facial analysis algorithms just using synthetic data, before deploying them in real-life scenarios.
According to a GitHub post on the research from the software giant, the face biometrics scientific community has been utilizing synthesizing training data with graphics for a long time already.
However, the paper’s abstract argues, the domain gap between real and synthetic applications has remained a problem, particularly when considering human faces.
To circumvent this issue, researchers have traditionally employed a combination of data mixing, domain adaptation, and domain-adversarial training.
According to Microsoft’s new research, it is possible to synthesize data with a minimal domain gap so that facial analysis models trained on synthetic data alone can actually be deployed in the wild.
The new process combines a procedurally-generated parametric 3D face model with a comprehensive library of hand-crafted assets, designed to render training images with high realism and diversity.
“With synthetic data, you can guarantee perfect labels without annotation noise, generate rich labels that are otherwise impossible to label by hand, and have full control over variation and diversity in a data set,” the researchers explained in the paper.
The procedurally constructed synthetic faces are realistic and expressive and are based on an initial face template, which is then scrambled with random expressions and textures.
“Attach random hair and clothing and render the face in a random environment,” the paper reads.
The researchers rendered a training dataset of 100,000 synthetic face images, then evaluated the synthetic data on face analysis tasks, face pausing, and landmark localization.
“The networks we train never saw a single real image,” they explained. “We use[d] label adaptation to minimize human-annotated labels.”
According to the Microsoft team, the main difficulty in the process was to convert the models’ 3D projected jawline into a 2D face outline.
Possible applications for the technique are found in training for non-biometric areas of facial analysis.
“Eye tracking can be a key feature for virtual or augmented reality, but training data is difficult to acquire,” the researchers explained.
The synthetic faces, however, look sufficiently realistic close-up to make it relatively easy for the team to set up a synthetic eye-tracking camera and render training images, the researchers say.
Microsoft confirmed the novel dataset will soon be released, complete with 2D landmark and per-pixel segmentation labels, for non-commercial research purposes.
Skin reflectance image correction in biometric image capture
Researchers with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have developed a way to correct for how much light reflects off of the skin of a person in a photograph used for face biometrics.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published the patent filing for the technique under the title ‘Skin reflectance image correction in biometric image capture’. The document describes the use of a scoring system on a captured image, quantifying the suitability of the image quality for biometric identification. If the image scores below a threshold, the system calculates the changes the camera must make to capture a good enough image.
Those camera setting changes are sent to the camera, which takes another photo and assesses its quality. The filing also describes the use of post-capture reflectance correction.
Changes made by the system to the camera’s “capture parameters” could include reduced gain, reduced spectral sensitivity, and adjustments to the flash. Outputs are also included, such as identification messages and access control actions.
How close are Dutch biometrics researchers to China’s Uyghur oppression?
Working with researchers linked to organizations involved with concentration camps in China is not a good look, as three labs in the Netherlands are finding out.
A story by non-profit investigative publication Follow The Money and news service RTL Nieuws alleges that Chinese researchers in the Netherlands have for years worked with Dutch counterparts on ways to identify people based on DNA and face biometrics.
The article, by NL Times, alleges that biometrics researchers are working to be able to predict “body characteristics based on a DNA profile and facial recognition techniques” and to map families.
The concern is that regardless of how Dutch scientists use the resulting data (perhaps to identify a murderer), China’s autocratic state will use it to persecute minorities including Uyghurs, a large indigenous Muslim group.
Beijing reportedly wants Uyghurs washed of any non-Chinese cultural and political traits, and allegedly has imprisoned one million of them in enormous, remote concentration camps for indoctrination.
China’s intense, nationwide biometrics-recognition surveillance network has in no small way been spurred by Beijing’s paranoia about destabilization that the Uyghurs could cause. The network has been used in Xinjiang, the sparsely populated region that is home to most the group.
The NL Times article states that Chinese researchers working in the Netherlands have direct and indirect links to the Chinese Ministry of Public Security. Citing the original reporting, the story alleges that some of them “are paid or employed by the Chinese police.”
Studies in which they have participated reportedly also involved Erasmus Medical Centre, Leiden University and the Netherlands Forensic Institute.
Seven studies involved Uyghurs’ DNA, and three of them were based on blood drawn by the national police’s forensic unit.
There have been reports for years that when Beijing was not just imprisoning people and taking their personal biometric data, government workers have traveled Xinjiang under the guise of medical professionals taking blood and saliva samples for healthcare related reasons.
Follow The Money reported last month that two published studies were retracted when journal editors could not be convinced after the fact that DNA collected for the work had been volunteered by Uyghurs.
The healthcare and forensics organizations named in the report have denied working closely — or at all — with the Chinese biometrics researchers in question.
Main News:
Amazon unveils series of face and voice biometrics updates
Amazon has announced a series of new updates last week, focusing on the biometric capabilities of some of its hardware products, as well as on the company’s AWS marketplace.
First, at its Enterprise Connect event on Monday, the retail giant announced three new capabilities for Amazon Connect for contact centers. According to the company’s new data, tens of thousands of AWS customers are supporting more than 10 million contact center interactions a day on Amazon Connect.
The new platform updates now bring real-time agent assistance capabilities together with high-volume outbound communications, and voice biometrics via AWS’ caller authentication tool Amazon Connect Voice ID.
“Today’s three features build on this powerful foundation to make it even simpler for contact centers to provide superior customer service,” said Pasquale DeMaio, general manager, Amazon Connect, AWS.
The biometric solution can reportedly provide real-time caller authentication without disrupting natural conversation and enable secure voice access via machine learning by analyzing the caller’s speech attributes, like rhythm, pitch, and tone.
“Now, businesses can give agents the ability to find answers faster, provide customers with a more secure and efficient experience, and quickly scale their outbound communications,” DeMaio added.
A day after its Enterprise Connect event, Amazon held its yearly product event, releasing a number of new updates.
As reported by Engadget, the online retailer has confirmed it will be adding offline voice recognition capabilities to its 4th-generation Echo, Echo Show 10, and Echo Show 15 devices.
Amazon has been under scrutiny in the last few years for its biometrics-collection practices.
The new privacy features may aim to tackle these issues, and will see audio clips and biometric data recorded by Echo devices processed locally, and not sent to the cloud, instead being automatically deleted after the Alexa device processes them.
Another biometric update unveiled by Amazon at its product launch event relates to the new Echo Show 15, and its face biometrics capabilities.
As highlighted by CNET, the novel Visual ID biometrics feature will now enable Alexa devices to show users personalized recommendations, calendars, to-do lists, and more when their faces enter the camera’s field of vision.
According to Amazon, the facial recognition profile created through Visual ID will not be shared with any other devices.
The last biometrics-related update from the retail giant at its product launch event regards the company’s fitness tracker Halo View.
The device itself is a state-of-the-art fitness tracker in its own right, with a bright AMOLED color screen, a seven-day battery life, 50-meter water resistance, and an array of sensors, delivering optical heart rate, sleep tracking, and blood oxygen readings.
The main update regarding the Halo View, however, is a subtractive one, as Amazon has entirely removed the always-recording microphone, which previously had to be manually switched off, possibly to ease customers’ privacy concerns.
Humanode testnet probes structural limits of cryptobiometric blockchain system
Humanode has launched its first testnet, dubbed ‘Sachiel,’ to find the structural limitations of its blockchain system with ‘cryptobiometric’ identity-based consensus.
The company will onboard users in batches of 50 to trial biometric enrollment, block validation, and transactions using the technology, as well as participate in FaceTec’s Spoof Bounty Program.
FaceTec was revealed as Humanode’s face biometrics and liveness partner in an August announcement.
Sachiel is described by Humanode as an Aura and Grandpa testnet based on Substrate consensus modules modified to support biometric authentication.
Humanode plans to run a series of testnets, in order to temper the system and build a strong enough foundation to support millions of future users, as well as discover the system’s current structural limitations.
Sachiel supports Linux, macOS and Windows, in combination with iOS and Android, and Humanode says the testnet will be implemented with modest hardware requirements.
Humanode’s mainnet launch is planned for June 2022, and priority consideration for the first generation of human nodes will be given to active testnet users, the company says.
Sensory speech recognition for children could transform apps, wearables, and education tech
Sensory has released a custom trained speech recognition model designed to understand the unique linguistic patterns in children’s speech. The model also supports Sensory’s other phrase-spotting technology and speech recognizer.
As a result, developers of apps, children’s toys, kids’ wearables and education technology can implement voice control technology with a high level of accuracy and privacy using Sensory’s edge artificial intelligence and user-experience based speech recognition technology.
Developers can access both Sensory’s children’s speech and general speech models through the company’s Voice Hub developer portal.
Traditionally there has been a lack of data for children-specific speech models, which differ from adults. “Sensory has some of the most talented technologists in the speech industry. We challenged the team to create a private and accurate recognizer for kid’s speech and they delivered. This opens up new and fun voice enabled products for kids of all ages,” says Todd Mozer, CEO at Sensory.
The new technology has shown a 33 percent reduction in word error rate compared to an adult speech recognition model, Sensory says, and has been built into integrated circuits (IC) made by Generalplus Technology, a developer of consumer electronics and voice-powered toys.
Google accessibility feature turns a glance into a command
Android and iOS are adding accessibility features.
Beginning September 30, Google’s Android will enable people to control some navigation with gesture recognition based on facial expressions. Apple’s accessibility feature is a side benefit of its mobile driving license work.
Camera Switches in Android is designed for people with motor and speech impairments. Expressions are read as basic commands when a user points their phone’s front-facing camera at their face.
People can assign facial expressions that command software to scan and select, for instance. Movements include looking right, left and up; raised eyebrows, smile and open mouth. All image processing occurs on the phone, affording more protection and faster responses than if processing occurred in the cloud.
Android enables customized command input through facial recognition. For example, the app measures the duration of gestures because each action varies greatly among accessibility users. They can program the app to differentiate actions by their size, too, to minimize erroneous cues.
The gesture recognition software works with physical switches that people use, as well. A brief demonstration is here.
Apple, meanwhile, has announced that the driving licenses and state IDs issued by Utah, Oklahoma, Maryland, Kentucky, Iowa, Georgia, Connecticut and Arizona can be saved to its Wallet app.
The Transportation Security Administration’s administrator, David Pekoske, welcomed Apple’s entrance into the fledgling sector.
And the Security Technology Alliance endorsed Apple’s digital ID and the ISO/IEC 18013–5 standard with which its mDL complies.
The documents can be viewed on iPhones and Watches.
Interest in Apple’s digital ID feature, which can only succeed when the nation as a whole accepts it, has not been overwhelming.
Firefox Focus adds biometric account security, privacy options
Mozilla has updated its Firefox Focus mobile browser with new biometric privacy features and visual effects.
The new version of the app was spotted by Engadget and introduces easier password creation for apps, with finger and face biometrics unlocking the authentication data.
“Now only you can safely open your accounts when you use your operating system’s biometric security, such as your face or your fingerprint touch to unlock the access page to your logins and passwords,” Mozilla explained in a blog post.
The features are available now for Android, with the iOS update expected later this year.
Mozilla added a shield icon to allow users to turn trackers on or off more intuitively, a counter for previously blocked trackers, and a shortcut feature to make users’ favorite sites easier to access.
Firefox Focus’ latest update is a testament to the company’s efforts on the privacy front. The non-profit organization has in the past few years also worked (slowly but) steadily towards the adoption of passwordless authentication solutions.
Paravision launches Android facial recognition SDK for custom app development
Paravision is launching a complete facial recognition software development kit (SDK) for Android to enable the fast development of mobile applications for a wide range of applications.
The new Android SDK functions for face detection, landmark detection, biometric image quality analysis, template (embedding) creation, and 1:1 facial verification and 1:N face matching. It can be used for mobile customer onboarding applications, durable tablets used in government identity programs, point-of-sale or airport kiosks, and next-generation access control devices, the company says. The SDK is written in the Kotlin programming language and supports TorchScript computer vision frameworks.
“Mobile is being driven by the combination of the identity verification market — which is growing faster than anyone thought possible 12 months ago — and the use of Android in a wide variety of edge devices, like point of sale or self-service kiosks,” observes Paravision President and COO Benji Hutchison in an interview with Biometric Update on the Converge announcement.
The system supports all Android 7 and newer devices, and select Android 5 and 6 devices, and is compatible with Paravision backend SDKs and biometric engines, meaning partners are able to customize their apps with the functions they require.
Android has become a dominant platform for a wide range of enterprise and government applications that rely on facial recognition and other biometrics.
Paravision offers a collection of detailed reference applications that include UI and UX sample implementations.
Previously, Paravision unveiled new software development kits (SDKs) to facilitate the design and deployment of embedded facial recognition systems based on its edge AI (artificial intelligence) technology.
Edge AI solutions for facial recognition are already powering several devices on the market that are both ultra-low power and small form factor, as well as extremely fast and accurate.
The new toolkits released by Paravision now support several facial recognition functions, including face detection, landmark detection, image quality assessment, liveness and anti-spoofing, template creation, and 1:1 or 1:N face matching.
Also, Paravision extends CV tools with person detection and advanced analytics.
Cubox tops NIST face biometrics test for visa kiosks
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has recently published the results of its most recent Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) 1:N, aimed at assessing the effectiveness of algorithms in performing comparisons of a biometric template against various databases.
Cubox submitted the algorithm ranked third in the 1:1 tests’ ‘VisaBorder’ category, and followed that up by topping the ‘Visa Kiosk’ category in the NIST FRVT 1:N.
The NIST FRVT 1:N test is separated into two categories: identification, focusing on biometric access control applications, and investigation, intended to test systems designed to identify criminals, missing people, and wanted offenders.
The Cubox algorithm scored the highest biometric accuracy in the September 21 visa kiosk photo test with a 0.06 percent false identification rate when searching datasets from 1.6 million visa border images among 344 algorithms from 240 global companies and institutions. The company also scored near the top of the face aging border recognition category.
Trueface third in matching speed
According to the recent FRVT test results, Trueface executed a 1 to 1 biometric template comparison in as little as 186 nanoseconds, ranking third globally in the template match speed category.
“However, more often than not, we are performing 1 to N identity verification,” explained Cyrus Behroozi, senior computer vision software developer at Trueface.ai in a blog post.
“In these situations, we do not simply compare two biometric templates against each other, but instead, compare a biometric template against a database of potentially millions of biometric templates.”
Keyless patents privacy-focused, cross-platform biometric authentication method
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted cybersecurity firm Keyless a new patent describing a privacy-focused technology designed for the collection and handling of customers’ biometric data.
According to the company, the new technology would entirely prevent firms, third parties, and even Keyless from accessing users’ biometric data.
This is possible due to the fact that such information would not be stored on a device or any centralized location but instead held via multi-party computing on the edge.
“Our mission at Keyless is to provide people and organizations with a passwordless future, where the user is the key,” said the company’s Co-founder and CEO Andrea Carmignani.
Startup Unissey passes biometric presentation attack detection test, first by French lab CLR
The Cabinet Louis Reynaud Labs (CLR) group has conducted its first evaluation of the ISO/IEC 30107 standard, finding French biometrics firm Unissey compliant with Level 1 for face biometric presentation attack detection (PAD), ensuring that a person is who he or she claims to be and is alive and present in front of the camera for verification.
CLR Labs recently announced a partnership with the assessment body LSTI to assess remote identity verification providers in terms of biometrics and liveness detection.
The lab confirmed that Unissey’s liveness detection returned no false negative matches after several thousand presentation attacks with paper photo prints, video screens and 3D masks, presenting the biometric data of real, demographically diverse subjects.
“We are very proud to work with CLR Labs and to benefit from their extensive biometric expertise, which is in line with our approach to continuously challenge our liveness detection solution,” said Olivier Roblin, CTO of Unissey.
The firm’s solution is now proceeding to Level 2 evaluation, involving more masks and attacks targeted specifically to attack Unissey’s liveness detection.
Fingerprint Cards and Infineon move biometric authentication within cards’ secure element
Fingerprint Cards and Infineon have developed a method for carrying out biometric authentication entirely within the latter’s secure element, eliminating the need for a separate processor and making it easier and less costly to develop and roll out biometric payment cards.
The partners say processing within the Infineon secure element maintains biometric performance and increases security.
The new processing method is performed using Infineon’s SLC38 40nm security controller, Fingerprint Card’s T-Shape 2 sensor module, and its latest biometric payment software. FPC’s research and development team focused on reducing the requirements for memory, flash and RAM of its software for execution within the Infineon SE.
Nearly half of all payment cards with embedded chips worldwide include an Infineon security controller, according to the announcement.
B-Secur releases SDK to boost heartbeat biometrics development
B-Secur has launched an electrocardiogram (ECG) hardware and software development kit designed to help companies streamline the development of biometrics-focused ECG devices.
The company has in the past couple of years collaborated with various consumer and medical device companies, including LifeQ and Maxim.
Through these biometrics partnerships, and spurred by a renewed necessity of medical wearables during the pandemic, B-Secur has now completed the creation of a full solution stack to accelerate ECG application development.
According to the firm, the new development kit will particularly provide easy access to development integration of B-Secur’s HeartKey technology for smaller consumer wearable device makers.
The ECG technology received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(K) for use in medical devices last February, meaning it could legally be integrated into semiconductors in a variety of applications.
However, from a technical standpoint, ECG development can be a complex and time-consuming process, ofter requiring substantial funds and dedicated technical efforts.
B-Secur’s new development kit aims to help companies circumvent these issues by offering several tools and guides, including an electrode guide, electrode development test jig, hardware design guide, HeartKey software library of algorithms which include biometric authentication, as well as the company’s software guide and signal analysis app.
AI skeptics to lawmakers: Resist the urge to solve AI bias with more tech
European privacy advocates think it is a mistake for governments to believe more technology can make AI fair to all of the humans it serves. But if policymakers insist on that viewpoint, an alliance of AI skeptics has some recommendations.
The group, called European Digital Rights, or EDRi, has published a report based on the premise that debiasing AI algorithms and datasets (such as those in facial recognition systems) only further consolidates governance in the hands of technology companies.
Government leaders, according to the report, “must tackle the root causes of the power imbalances caused by the pervasive use of AI systems.”
Debiasing is an overly simplistic proposal, according to EDRi’s report, called “Beyond Debiasing: Regulating AI and its Inequalities.”
It means using technical design to solve complex technical problems finely integrated with societal dynamics. And it is the “primary means of addressing discrimination AI” in recent European Union policies.
Also troubling, debiasing is typically carried out by the people and processes that created biased programs, to begin with.
An increasing amount of thought is going into how AI can be both effective and ethical, and not all of it involves debiasing.
US spends $239M on digital identity projects
The federal government has awarded $239 million for four digital identity-related agency projects three of which are zero-trust initiatives. It is part of a $1 billion fund to be disbursed.
Managers of the government’s Technology Modernization Fund, who approve related projects, have, with this disbursement, put an emphasis on ID authentication and verification upgrades.
Login.gov, part of the General Services Administration, will receive $187 million in batches. The cross-agency service is expanding identity verification coverage as it grows throughout the government.
The money will pay for options for digital identity and in-person verifications for “vulnerable populations.” Advanced digital security capabilities will be explored with the funds as well.
The remaining three allocations target zero-trust functions.
London mayor sets out a plan for smart city biometrics with Emerging Technology Charter
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has published an updated Emerging Technology Charter designed to act as a set of practical and ethical guidelines for the trialing and deployment of new data-enabled smart city technology, including face biometrics.
This is the fourth version of the charter, which was first published in July 2020 and developed through an open process of public consultation with subject experts, biometrics developers and other innovators, and Londoners themselves.
The new digital infrastructure aims to, among others, make internet speeds faster, provide vast amounts of real-time data and support a new generation of services and applications. A framework will also be available for a range of technologies like driverless cars, facial recognition software, drones, sensor networks, robotics, mobility services, augmented and virtual reality, and automated and algorithmic decision making.
The Charter is intended to assist in the economic recovery from the pandemic, and the anticipated acceleration in the availability of smart city emerging technologies. The charter therefore sets four principles for implementing technology in London: openness; respect for diversity; trustworthiness with people’s data; and sustainability.
“My new Emerging Tech Charter will play a significant part in that recovery, making sure both Londoners and tech businesses are using data efficiently to get the most out of technological innovation,” says Khan, according to UKAuthority.
Biometrics from birth — South Africa seeks to end child trafficking, welfare fraud
The government of South Africa is investigating biometric technologies and policies to introduce biometrics for infants to tackle child trafficking and welfare fraud where people claim benefits for a child who is not their own. A scientific study into the efficacy of infant biometrics, conducted by a team of South African researchers, has determined the relative strengths and weaknesses of capturing three types of infant biometrics: ear shape, irises and fingerprints.
These Weeks’ News by Categories
Access Control:
- Nice strengthens building automation position with $285M Nortek Control acquisition
- Greasing visitor passes at military bases with biometric systems
- Paths to passwordless enterprise MFA expanded by Secret Double Octopus
- Firefox Focus adds biometric account security, privacy options
- Biometric ticketing reaches NFL, deployed to a new soccer stadium
- Biometric access control solutions, integrations, and customer wins indicate market growth
- US spends $239M on digital identity projects
- Remote work contributes to enterprise shift to biometrics, away from passwords
- One Identity and OneLogin now one company
- Beyond Identity passwordless MFA tool reaches general availability
- Presenters at FIDO Authenticate bullish on government MFA policy
Consumer Electronics:
- Amazon unveils series of face and voice biometrics updates
- Google accessibility feature turns a glance into a command
- Firefox Focus adds biometric account security, privacy options
- Sensory speech recognition for children could transform apps, wearables and education tech
- Biometrics to replace car keys for Genesis vehicle, Cerence voice control deployed by VinFast
- Fingerprint Cards, Next Biometrics sensors integrated with new PCs
Financial Services:
- Visa selects Callsign to deliver behavioral biometrics, device intelligence
- Socure, Onfido and Trulioo crack CB Insights’ Fintech 250
- Biometric payment cards see new tech, new uses and new names
- BioCatch launches behavioral biometrics-based Age Analysis to protect elderly from fraud
- Timor-Leste to launch iris biometrics payments with IrisGuard, EyeTrust partnership
- User-centric digital ID, biometric KYC policy model proposed by financial inclusion group
- Socure hits customer milestone as selfie biometrics providers disclose deals
- Consumer trust loss could be behavioral biometrics’ gain, Callsign survey shows
- Visa vulnerability in Apple Pay allows biometrics bypass for fraudulent payments
- Thales wins biometric bank card deal, Zwipe partners on payments, hybrid ID cards
- Financial institutions fined nearly $11B worldwide for KYC, regulatory non-compliance
- Fingerprint Cards and Infineon move biometric authentication within cards’ secure element
- Trulioo signs up 5 global remittance firms for digital ID verification
- Acuant biometric KYC to secure decentralized finance for African students
- Progress on biometric payment cards reported by Idex, Linxens, Zwipe
Civil / National ID:
- Ready to field decentralized digital ID services, Microsoft seeks partners
- EAB expert sees a long-term benefit to biometric border control in birth certificate standards
- 25K Afghan biometric passports ready to be issued, 100K more to follow
- Clear Health Pass integrates with Apple Health app, adds more venues
- Liquid Avatar digital wallet app rolls out, approved for convenience store age verification
- ISO standard for mobile driving licenses published
- Malaysia’s biometric registry project faces sharp criticism
- ‘You cannot trust a vendor’: understanding biometrics in the humanitarian sector
- Australia drafts legislation to establish digital identity oversight body
- The challenges of electronic IDsPayments network to offer digital ID services from SecureKey to Canadian
- A coordinated federal role in developing a US digital health pass is almost impossible
- Scottish digital health pass app launch hit by problems
- Digital ID officials confront open-source opportunity, brain drain, and true gender inclusivity
- PhilID cards to be used as digital ID for social welfare programs
- Canadian digital health pass easily spoofed, exposed data, developer claims
- Developments in Indian digital ID: health accounts launch, resistance to voter link grows
- Australia accredits eftpos for a digital identity exchange
- Pakistan steps up biometric registration of Afghan refugees, Taliban permits existing ID
- Eliminating the black market for fake COVID vaccine certificates via automated solutions
Government Services & Elections:
- A few ‘shoulds’ in otherwise detailed NZ biometric policy
- 25K Afghan biometric passports ready to be issued, 100K more to follow
- Neurotechnology reveals ABIS caught 15K duplicate registrations for Ghana 2020 vote
- Malaysia’s biometric registry project faces sharp criticism
- US spends $239M on digital identity projects
- Australia drafts legislation to establish a digital identity oversight body
- Developments in Indian digital ID: health accounts launch, resistance to voter link grows
- Kenya targets 7M new voters as biometric enrollment begins ahead of 2022 polls
- Nigeria’s INEC seeks data sharing to clean biometric voters register
Facial Recognition:
- Face biometrics roll out at airports on three continents amid ethics, oversight debates
- Clearview launches facial recognition tools to deblur images and remove masks
- Delta partners with TSA on face biometrics, Emirates and SITA discuss aviation trends
- Biometrics deployments speed up — and slow down — passenger movements worldwide
- Biometric ticketing reaches NFL, deployed to a new soccer stadium
- Biometric access control solutions, integrations and customer wins indicate market growth
- A lawsuit filed over allegations of Uber face biometrics bias
- Shiny skin ruining face biometric data? DHS researchers develop a fix
- Thales, Idemia biometrics deployed to new airports to ease traveler experience
- Cubox tops NIST face biometrics test for visa kiosks, Trueface third in matching speed
- Biometrics providers stake out facial recognition, fingerprint sensor market positions
- New facial recognition ethics tool being tested in the Netherlands
- NZ airport face biometrics trial deployed against Privacy Commissioner advice
- Proposed facial recognition ban in EU doesn’t go far enough — privacy advocates
- SenseTime sources legal opinion suggesting limits to US sanctions ahead of planned IPO
- India’s new law enforcement face biometrics RFP tilts in favor of local vendors
- Paravision brings edge-to-cloud facial recognition to AI digital ID disruption party
- Paravision Converge introduces new face biometrics features, optimizations, tools
- Paravision enhances video facial recognition with Streaming Container update
- Paravision unveils edge AI toolkits for facial recognition applications
- London mayor sets out a plan for smart city biometrics with Emerging Technology Charter
- Turkey scans photos for the faces of disloyal citizens
- ICE drops $3.9M for Trust Stamp’s facial recognition, London Met taps NEC for $4.2M
- Clearview has a heavy-handed plan to scare away organizations and journalists
Fingerprint Recognition:
- Dermalog claims win in LivDet fingerprint biometrics anti-spoofing competition
- Biometric payment cards see new tech, new uses and new names
- Biometrics providers stake out facial recognition, fingerprint sensor market positions
- Thales wins biometric bank card deal, Zwipe partners on payments, hybrid ID cards
- Tech5 contactless fingerprint biometrics for mobile devices unveiled
- BIO-key launches FIDO2 MFA keys with fingerprint biometrics
- Fingerprint Cards, Next Biometrics sensors integrated with new PCs
- Progress on biometric payment cards reported by Idex, Linxens, Zwipe
Voice Biometrics:
- Google adds voice biometrics to Contact Center AI platform
- Amazon unveils series of face and voice biometrics updates
- Veridas sees strong voice biometrics adoption by call centers, Auraya accredited by AWS
- This biometric identifier is being recorded for training and quality purposes…
- Biometrics to replace car keys for Genesis vehicle, Cerence voice control deployed by VinFast
- Arise launches voice biometrics tool to enhance customer experience
- Auraya launches voice biometrics for forensics, adds SaaS delivery model
Liveness Detection:
- Humanode testnet probes structural limits of cryptobiometric blockchain system
- Dermalog claims win in LivDet fingerprint biometrics anti-spoofing competition
- Startup Unissey passes biometric presentation attack detection test, first by French lab CLR
- The promise of knowledge distillation for debiasing biometric PAD discussed in EAB event
Behavioral Biometrics:
- Visa selects Callsign to deliver behavioral biometrics, device intelligence
- BioCatch launches behavioral biometrics-based Age Analysis to protect elderly from fraud
- Consumer trust loss could be behavioral biometrics’ gain, Callsign survey shows
- Prove passive authentication with gait, motion biometrics reaches global availability
Wearables:
- B-Secur releases SDK to boost heartbeat biometrics development
- Can a consumer biometric wearable warn the USAF about infection?
Mobile Biometrics:
- Google accessibility feature turns a glance into a command
- Trust Stamp launches biometric private key vault for cryptocurrency services
- Royal Caribbean docks with Smart Engines for digital ID verification on cruises
- Socure, Onfido and Trulioo crack CB Insights’ Fintech 250
- Clear Health Pass integrates with Apple Health app, adds more venues
- Liquid Avatar digital wallet app rolls out, approved for convenience store age verification
- A lawsuit filed over allegations of Uber face biometrics bias
- Why digital onboarding is the future
- User-centric digital ID, biometric KYC policy model proposed by financial inclusion group
- ISO standard for mobile driving licenses published
- Socure hits customer milestone as selfie biometrics providers disclose deals
- Visa vulnerability in Apple Pay allows biometrics bypass for fraudulent payments
- A coordinated federal role in developing a US digital health pass is almost impossible
- Innovatrics launches biometrics enrolment app and rapid remote passport reader
- Scottish digital health pass app launch hit by problems
- Tech5 contactless fingerprint biometrics for mobile devices unveiled
- Financial institutions fined nearly $11B worldwide for KYC, regulatory non-compliance
- Acuity Principal Most predicts $3B in biometrics investment in 2021
- Smart Engines adds EU digital IDs in document scanning SDK update
- Canadian digital health pass easily spoofed, exposed data, developer claims
- EU digital identity: why getting wallets right is crucial
- Paravision launches Android facial recognition SDK for custom app development
- Trulioo signs up 5 global remittance firms for digital ID verification
- Acuant biometric KYC to secure decentralized finance for African students
- Airport biometrics going mobile or single-token, IATA Travel Pass and NEC among beneficiaries
Biometrics Industry Events
IFINTEC Finance Technologies Conference and Exhibition: Oct 12, 2021 — Oct 13, 2021
Identity India 2021: Oct 28, 2021 — Oct 29, 2021
4th World Conference and Exhibition on Forensic Science: Nov 4, 2021 — Nov 6, 2021
Border Management & Technologies Summit Europe:Nov 8, 2021 — Nov 10, 2021
EAB workshop on face image quality: Nov 16, 2021 — Nov 18, 2021
Security Exhibition & Conference 2021: Nov 17, 2021 — Nov 19, 2021
Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX): Nov 29, 2021 — Dec 2, 2021
Future of Digital Onboarding and Customer Experience: Dec 1, 2021 — Dec 2, 2021
ENBANTEC Retail Banking Conference EMEA: Dec 8, 2021 — Dec 9, 2021
LEAP | Global Tech Event In Saudi Arabia: Feb 1, 2022 — Feb 3, 2022
Border Management & Technologies Summit Asia: Mar 15, 2022 — Mar 17, 2022
Critical Infrastructure Protection & Resilience Europe: Mar 15, 2022 — Mar 17, 2022
GISEC 2022: Mar 21, 2022 — Mar 23, 2022
Secure ID Forum; May 24, 2022 — May 26, 2022
Showcase Australia 2022: May 25, 2022
MISC
- The promise of knowledge distillation for debiasing biometric PAD discussed in EAB event: The innovative technique for training machine learning models known as ‘knowledge distillation’ is showing promise for mitigating bias in biometric anti-spoofing systems.
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