Corsight Shows Significant Bias Reduction in Latest NIST Test

Corsight is boasting about its strong showing in the NIST’s most recent Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT). The company’s algorithm was one of the top performers in the WILD, VISA-Border, and VISA-Kiosk categories, all of which are designed to evaluate the accuracy of facial recognition solutions in various real-world situations.

However, Corsight placed an even greater emphasis on its performance across demographics. The company noted that its algorithm achieved a significant reduction in gender and racial bias, and had similar accuracy scores for all of the groups examined in the NIST test.

In the test, bias is measured primarily with the False Positive Rate (FPR). The NIST can sort its results by race and gender to compare the FPR for white men to the FPRs for other groups. If the FPRs for those other groups are higher than the FPR for white men, it means that the algorithm is more likely to misidentify the people in those other demographics.

With Corsight’s algorithm, the differences between the various groups were minimal. The FPR for black men was only 10 percent higher than that of white men, a number that compares favorably to the 130 percent average for the top 30 solutions in the VISA-Border examination. Those results indicate that Corsight has much less bias than the competition, even when it is being measured against other leading facial recognition platforms.

The improved (and less biased) facial recognition algorithm is featured in the latest version of Corsight’s flagship Fortify product. The company has identified bias reduction as a key priority for its development team moving forward.

“Our mission at Corsight is to be the most ethical, accurate, fast performing and privacy-focused facial recognition solutions provider on the market,” said Corsight CEO Rob Watts. “We’re proud to have been recognised by NIST as making significant improvements where it matters the most.”

Corsight’s algorithm placed first in the unmasked category and second in the masked category in the Department of Homeland Security’s Biometric Technology Rally earlier this year. The company has since tried to make inroads in the APAC market with new executive appointments and a new partnership with Netpoleon.

–

December 17, 2021 – by Eric Weiss