Digital ID Investment and FRT Divestment: Identity News Digest

Welcome to FindBiometrics’ digest of identity industry news. Here’s what you need to know about the world of digital identity and biometrics today:

Proposed Bill Would Set Police Guidelines for FRT in California

A new bill proposed in the California state assembly would set guidelines in place for how law enforcement agencies are allowed to use facial recognition technology. Assembly Bill 642 would require a 98 percent accuracy rating for biometric matches, and would prevent a single biometric match from being used as the sole basis for an arrest in a police investigation. It would also require the biometric algorithms of technologies used by police to be evaluated against National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) specifications.

Nonprofit Uses Biometrics to Search for Missing Native Americans

Las Vegas-based Biometrica Systems is helping a nonprofit organization search for missing indigenous persons. Launched by Mark Pooley, a retired City of Tempe police sergeant who is Navajo and Hopi, Native Search Solutions uses Biometrica’s database of 16 million records sourced from law enforcement organizations in its searches, applying facial recognition to try to find a match against photographs of the missing person. The effort first begins, however, with a personal meeting between Pooley and the individual requesting the search, who must sign a consent form if the search is approved.

Emirates Airline Streamlines Operations With Biometric Check-in, Boarding

The United Arab Emirates’ flagship airline has reduced staffing requirements and optimized operations with its implementation of biometric check-in and boarding systems, according to Emirates COO Adel Al Redha, suggesting to the Khaleej Times that the technology had helped to reduced staffing at those airport touch points by 30 percent. Al Redha was speaking to the outlet as the airline debuted a new, multi-lingual robot designed to help guests travelling with the airline. Emirates launched a biometric curb-to-gate passenger processing system at Dubai International Airport in late 2020.

Lloyds Invests £10M in Yoti

Lloyds Banking Group has made a £10 million investment in digital identity specialist Yoti, a fellow United Kingdom-based firm. In announcing the investment, Yoti noted that the funding will support its development of a new “reusable digital identity proposition” that will be positioned to complement its existing solutions. The company was tight-lipped about details, but further explained that the forthcoming solution “will give users a more private, secure and convenient way to prove their identity.”

SoftBank Divests From SenseTime Amid Scandal

Japan-based investment firm SoftBank has significantly reduced its holdings of Chinese facial recognition firm SenseTime. As PingWest reports, SoftBank sold almost 10 million shares of the company this month, after shedding 50 million shares in February. Once the world’s most valuable AI startup, SenseTime was added to a US blacklist in 2019 over its alleged role in human rights abuses against China’s minority Uyghur population. SoftBank, meanwhile, has suffered massive losses in recent months amid a broader market downturn.

News of SoftBank’s latest divestment from the facial recognition firm comes alongside a new report indicating that SenseTime is one of multiple blacklisted Chinese firms that have been purchasing US components through intermediaries. Speaking to the Financial Times, an unnamed SenseTime engineer insisted that the company performs its “compliance and legal work very thoroughly and carefully.”

NordLocker Plans Biometric Security for File Encryption Platform

NordLocker is preparing to implement a biometric authentication feature to its file encryption platform. The company gestured to the plan in its announcement that it had moved from a “beta” service running on virtual machines to a new, serverless architecture. “We have a detailed roadmap for the product, and we want to expand it in many different ways,” said Head of Product Aivaras Vencevicius. “As a matter of fact, this process is already happening.”

HID, iPassport Sign MoU

HID Global and iPassport, a provider of digital identity solutions, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning a strategic collaboration on a new identity verification solution aimed at the air travel sector. Facial recognition will play a central role in the solution, which will also involve fingerprint biometrics, ID verification, and Software Development Kits. The companies plan to showcase their joint solution at next week’s Passenger Terminal Expo in Paris, which runs from March 14 to 16.

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March 9, 2023 – by Alex Perala

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