This past week in biometrics we saw news all across the verticals. Voter ID, border control, time and attendance and biometric access control all had their turn in the spotlight while new investors turned to strong authentication and our featured articles continued to focus on privacy.
First of all, Biometrics UnPlugged announced its speakers this week. The high profile featured speakers will be leading the discussion before an interactive panel brings all of the new ideas into practical focus.
EyeVerify announced on Wednesday that it has closed a series A funding round, raking-in over $6 million which will be used for expansion and marketing. The biometric startup simultaneously announced that Wells Fargo has chosen to invest in EyeVerify, selecting the company as part of its new Startup Accelerator program. EyeVerify founder and CEO Toby Rush spoke with Peter O’Neill, president of FindBiometrics, regarding this news in an exclusive interview.
NEC Corporation of America also shared news of a product endorsement, announcing this week that its technology took first place in NIST’s Proprietary Fingerprint Template Test (PFT II). Part of an ongoing NIST program the PFT II, is meant to measure the performance of fingerprint matching software. NEC’s fingerprint technology scored a 99.7 percent match rate during the test, placing it in first place by a margin of 20.2% and 21.8% on average in one finger and two finger configurations respectively.
In regards to border control, MorphoTrust USA (Safran) opened several new enrollment centers across the United States in support of the Transportation Security Administration’s Pre✓ program. This news comes shortly after the company announced a seven year E-CAT contract with the TSA aimed at streamlining the passenger security experience in airports.
Moving to the topic of access control, Suprema, Inc. launched a new security unit this week called the Xpass S2. Aimed at breaking down adoption barriers through deployment flexibility, the device builds on its predecessor, the Xpass Slim, with enhanced RF performance and support for a wider range of card technology standards. Xpass S2 supports MiFare, DESFire, ISO14443A/B, ISO15693, FeliCa and NFC while promising to operate both indoors and in extreme weather.
An updated version of Neurotechnology’s time and attendance software was released this week. NCheck Bio attendance 2.1, which uses fingerprint and facial biometrics to track employee work hours, distinguishes itself by keeping the hardware options open for customers. The software can be installed on Windows PCs and Android devices. Each access point can be connected to work in a single attendance system, allowing for flexibility across a wide range of deployments including areas not normally associated with biometric punch-in like concerts or events.
Turning to the discussion of privacy, this week’s feature article focused on biometric factors that you can’t help but broadcast to the world. Expanding on this discussion, the Pop Cultural Identity Management blog took a second look at Terminator 2: Judgement Day to illustrate the key differences between authentication and identification: a key distinction in privacy discussions.
Conveniently, while we have been delving deeper into the conversation of privacy in biometrics, Face Guardian launched a service aimed at addressing issues of next generation identity theft. Specifically designed to address the rising privacy concerns surrounding the Internet’s current state of face-pic-proliferation, Face Guardian provides users with alerts when a duplicate instance of a protected face photo is found online.
Moving to the topic of voter ID, M2SYS Technology’s TrueVoter was selected by Yemen’s Supreme Commission for Elections and Referendum to aid in the electoral process. TrueVoter is a highly customizable biometric system. Multi-modal in nature, it allows for voter identification with iris, fingerprint, palm print, facial and vascular recognition. The platform offers voter analytics and promises a suite of safety measures to protect citizen privacy.
Finally, this week FindBiometrics reported on BIO-key International’s recently disclosed Q2 2014 results. The first half of this financial year saw the company reporting 44 percent sales growth and declaring strong visibility for the coming Q3.
Stay posted to FindBiometrics next week as we begin to wrap up the Road To Biometrics UnPlugged and prepare for our upcoming privacy webinar. Be sure to follow us on Twitter so you don’t miss a beat.
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August 24, 2014 – by Peter B. Counter
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