As seen in many of this week’s top news stories, the biometric debate and investment are often seen side-by-side. Biometric UpdatesClearview AI settles plaintiffs with investors in biometric data privacy class action lawsuit, Kenya’s WorldCoin investigation is over, EU may bring back facial analysis lie detectors for border control, Generative AI could cause $40 billion in fraud in the next few years, according to Deloitte, DuckDuckGoose closes early stage $1 million funding round to combat the threat, Meanwhile, Mühlbauer and partners prepare to issue new Bulgarian ID cards, and IDloop unveils new contactless fingerprint scanner.
Top Biometric News This Week
Clearview AI has reached an unusual settlement agreement with plaintiffs in the Unified Biometric Data Privacy class action lawsuit, transferring a 23% stake in the company. A third party offered Clearview a $225 million valuation earlier this year, according to court documents, but the plaintiffs’ lawyers said the company did not have enough cash to pay the damages. The deal received initial approval from Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman of the Northern District of Illinois on Friday, according to the Associated Press.
While Honesty Recognition is not a biometric method, the EU is reportedly considering introducing AI lie detectors similar to the previously piloted iBorderCtrl at borders as part of EES and ETIAS controls. EU MEP Patrick Breyer has dismissed the idea as pseudoscience that doesn’t work. Meanwhile, the belatedly approved EES mobile app is unable to capture the facial images needed by the planned launch of the EES on October 6.
CCTV cameras equipped with AI software that can recognise objects and emotions, and collect demographic data for Amazon, are being trialled at eight UK train stations in the hopes of allowing police to intervene to prevent crashes or emergencies before they happen – but as with lie-detection algorithms, the technology is met with plenty of skepticism.
New South Wales is pumping more than A$21 million into a decentralized digital ID ecosystem following successful tests of facial recognition and liveness detection on the Service NSW app last year. Next steps for the system include digital emergency certificates, while other investments in the state budget will be dedicated to the transition to online licenses and fraud prevention.
Kenya has earmarked $117 million over the next 12 months to develop a national digital ID system and improve services. The government wants to reduce wait times for services, and plans to issue 7.5 million ID cards, 6.3 million birth certificates, and 1.5 million biometric passports next year.
Bulgaria has introduced a new digital ID card that incorporates fingerprint and facial biometrics and can be used as a travel document when traveling within the European Union. The optional new card was designed and manufactured by Mühlbauer and consortium partners and will eventually be used to access digital services.
A discussion of in-person payment innovations with Mastercard representatives indicated that biometric authentication and smartphone-based transactions are just ahead on the company’s roadmap. The conversation touched on consumer trust, how usage will drive further adoption, and how behavioral biometrics fit with physical modalities. The deal with Idex and rollout on Japanese rail lines indicates that the same plans are taking root in other parts of the ecosystem.
According to Deloitte, generative AI fraud is expected to cost the economy $40 billion per year by 2027. Meanwhile, the theft of $11 million from OKX cryptocurrency exchange accounts using deepfakes to circumvent facial recognition checks shows the severity of the problem today. DuckDuckGoose has raised $1.4 million in pre-seed funding to strengthen its position in the market for protection against generative AI and deepfake fraud.
The Five Eyes agreement initially limited data-sharing to 3,000 biometric fingerprint searches each year, but that has now ballooned to 400,000. New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom have provided little information about how the program works, and oversight appears to be weak.
WorldCoin is deploying iris biometric orbs in Ecuador and establishing a Latin American regional hub in Argentina. WorldCoin’s global expansion has also been boosted by the conclusions of investigations by government authorities: the Kenyan investigation was closed without further action, and a cease and desist order in Portugal is weeks away from expiring.
IDloop’s contactless 3D fingerprint scanner with micron-level resolution is now commercially available. The company says the optical scanner provides 5 million data points and is designed for biometric enrolment and 1:N matching in public areas with high security requirements, such as airports.
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Article Topics
Biometrics | Clearview AI | Data Privacy | Digital ID | Identity Verification | Week in Review
