Facial Recognition in the Spotlight: This Week’s Top Biometrics Stories

This week’s top stories on FindBiometrics were, with one notable exception, all about facial recognition – for good and for ill.

Let’s start with the exception (and, to be clear, face biometrics still factored in here). FindBiometrics visitors showed considerable interest this week in a recent webinar, now available on-demand, that tackled the mainstreaming of biometrics over the next decade. Participants included FaceTec CEO Kevin Alan Tussy, CITeR Director Stephanie Schuckers, Better Identity Coalition Coordinator Jeremy Grant, and Frost & Sullivan security industry analyst Danielle VanZandt:

ON-DEMAND: Redefining Biometrics for the Next Decade of Digital Work and Life

Now, to put facial recognition in the spotlight: readers were drawn to this week’s news that Deliveroo, the UK’s popular food delivery service, is implementing biometric identity checks for its delivery drivers. In an effort to fight fraud, the service will require drivers to periodically submit selfie photos while on the job, to prove that no one else is acting in their stead:

Deliveroo Using Facial Recognition to Clamp Down on Shared Accounts

Selfie authentication also shared a bit of the spotlight this week with another approach to biometric security – behavioral biometrics. Renowned selfie onboarding specialist FacePhi has teamed up with behavioral biometrics expert Revelock to offer a comprehensive joint security solution to financial services providers:

FacePhi and Revelock Team Up to Provide Comprehensive Coverage for Financial Sector

Meanwhile, another facial recognition specialist, Paravision, had some big investment news. Paravision announced that it had raised $23 million in its latest funding round, attracting contributions from Marlinspike Capital, Atomic, Icon Ventures, Perot Jain, Red Cell Partners, and one of its big-name clients – HID Global:

HID Global Contributes to $23 Million Round of Paravision Funding

And finally, readers also showed interest in the dark side of facial recognition. PimEyes came under scrutiny this week for misleading messaging about its face search solution. The company says it protects end users’ privacy, but in practice it may enable stalking and intrusive surveillance:

Face Search Specialist PimEyes Criticized for Misleading Business Practices

*

Stay posted to FindBiometrics next week as we continue to bring you the latest news and interviews from the exciting world of biometrics. To see the hottest stories of the week in mobile digital identity, visit our sibling site Mobile ID World.

–

May 15, 2021 – by Alex Perala