A new report from the Dalberg consulting firm suggests that India’s Aadhaar program is currently excluding some of the country’s most vulnerable demographics. The report specifically calls attention to India’s homeless and transgender communities, noting that 30 percent of the homeless population and more than 25 percent of the transgender population are still not registered…
Biometrics News – Facial Recognition French authorities are preparing to launch a biometric national ID app for access to online government services. The app is called “Alicem”, an acronym for “certified online authentication on mobile”. Like a number of increasingly popular mobile authentication systems in the financial services sector, the app revolves around selfie biometrics:…
Aadhaar is rapidly eclipsing other forms of identity in India. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) took to Twitter to announce that Aadhaar cardholders no longer need any other documents when updating some of their personal information. Instead, Indian citizens can simply bring their Aadhaar card to any Aadhaar Seva Kendra center, where they…
India is equipping its sailors with a Biometric Seafarer Identity Document (BSID) with facial biometrics embedded in the card’s chip. Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya handed out five cards during a press conference announcing the new IDs, and the country itself plans to hand out 15,000 more on an annual basis. At the moment, there are…
“We believe that our combined solution will provide high value to countries that are establishing identity management systems.” TECH5 has officially become the first ABIS vendor to integrate with the MOSIP platform, making it compatible with its T5-ABIS solution and various biometric SDKs. MOSIP is an open-source platform that allows organizations to create digital IDs that…
“This is largely in relation to the WhatsApp messaging app owned by Facebook, through which information deemed to be a public threat can be promulgated.” Facebook wants India’s Supreme Court to decide whether it can be compelled to share users’ Aadhaar information with law enforcement authorities. The company is facing similar lawsuits in four different…
“The national IDs will increase financial inclusion, allowing people with no other form of official ID to open bank accounts and conduct transactions…” The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects to print 23 million biometric IDs in the Philippines in 2020. In addition to a photo, the new IDs will contain fingerprint and iris biometrics…
The North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is leveraging Mantra’s biometric technology to help with the distribution of food to eligible citizens. Mantra Softech is a manufacturer of Aadhaar-certified fingerprint and iris recognition sensors that have been used in a variety of government-sponsored programs, including a benefits program designed for small farmers. The deployment in…
“By protecting the use of Aadhaar authentication on a voluntary basis, the central government is seeking to ensure that Aadhaar can still be used for private sector services.” India’s Parliament has passed legislation allowing citizens to voluntarily use Aadhaar as identification when opening new banking or mobile accounts. The bill, called “The Aadhaar and Other…
“The comments come after an extensive string of controversies concerning the Aadhaar program.” One of the architects of Aadhaar was putting his strongest spin on the biometric national ID program at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. Speaking at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, the Infosys Chairman, Nandan Nilekani, insisted that Aadhaar…
Fresh off of its partnership announcement with Fingerprint Cards, the new Swedish company Identity Devices has made its first big push into India’s Aadhaar market, announcing a ‘Biometric Privacy Platform’ (BPP) designed for the enormous biometric national ID program. The BPP is described as an offering of both hardware and software for the Aadhaar ecosystem,…
The Canadian banking sector’s leading business association is calling for the creation of a digital identity system for use in the nation’s financial services. Founded toward the end of 1891, the Canadian Bankers Association is an integral position in the discourse between the country’s banks and government authorities. And it has published a new video…
“Each ID card features a microchip containing the citizen’s photograph, signature, and fingerprint biometrics, while the card itself is laser-engraved polycarbonate.” IDEMIA has just delivered its latest batch of national ID cards to government authorities in Nepal, the company has announced. It’s the latest development in a partnership that extends back to 2016, when Safran…
“…the legislation will offer citizens a six-month window in which they can choose to opt out of the Aadhaar program, with their iris and fingerprint data deleted from the Aadhaar database.” The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is preparing legislation that will allow citizens to withdraw from Aadhaar, India’s biometric national ID program. According…
“The situation is only the latest illustration of the haphazard character of Aadhaar’s rapid evolution over the last few years, with government agencies and businesses applying the ID program in something of a regulatory and legal fog.” The Indian Supreme Court’s decision to restrict the use of Aadhaar, India’s biometric national ID program, to government…
“As far back as February of this year, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which administrates Aadhaar, issued a statement reminding government officials that they must provide services to citizens even when Aadhaar authentication fails…” India’s biometric national ID program has delivered some tremendous benefits to the country, but it has also led to…
“This ruling comes a little over a year after the Supreme Court’s ruling last summer that privacy is a fundamental right of Indian citizens…” India’s Supreme Court has issued a new ruling that seeks to limit the reach of Aadhaar, the country’s ambitious biometric national ID program. According to a new Reuters report, the ruling…
The Unique Identification Authority of India is once again recalibrating its efforts to promote Aadhaar, the country’s biometric national ID program, with the announcement that it will offer Rs 2B, or about $27,668,000, in assistance to school districts for the enrollment of students. It’s a response to confusion among school administrators that was arguably the…
Axis Bank is staking a claim to being the first financial services institution in India to implement iris-based Aadhaar authentication on a ‘micro ATM’, a term for portable terminals used to enable account access. Axis Bank has embedded iris recognition technology into a tablet device to enable to the functionality as part of its efforts…