EU’s AI Act Gets Controversial Amendment – 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:

AI Act Amendment Would Allow Police Biometrics in Emergencies

A last-minute amendment to the European Union’s proposed “AI Act” has reportedly thrown off its slow and steady passage toward becoming an official law. Inserted by the EPP, a large, center-right faction within the European Parliament, the amendment would allow police authorities to use biometric identification in emergency situations involving criminal or terrorist activity. It is seen as conflicting with plans to ban the use of biometrics by authorities outright. A parliamentary vote on the AI Act is scheduled for June 14.

Chinese Military Shows Off Mobile Camp Tech

The Chinese military is showcasing its technological sophistication, including its use of biometric security. A new report from Global Times, an offshoot of the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship People’s Daily, details the deployment of a mobile military camp in northwest China that includes climate control, showers, robotic meal prep, and a facial recognition system that, together with infrared cameras, “can grasp the dynamics of the camp and its surrounding environment around the clock.” Long-range facial recognition was a major highlight at last week’s “Security China” event.

Biometric Border Control Has Nabbed 1,800 Impostors: CBP

Over 333 million travelers have been processed through US Customs and Border Protection’s face-based biometric border control system, and it has detected more than 1,800 impostors, according to new statistics released by the office. The biometric border control system is now in place at 45 airports and 19 seaports. The facial recognition system recently reached the Port of Boston, through a partnership between the CBP and Norwegian Cruise Lines.

UAE’s Astra Tech Opens Automated Convenience Store

Astra Tech, a consumer technology conglomerate, has opened an automated convenience store in Abu Dhabi that lets customers make purchases with a face scan. At the entrance of “B Store”, a kiosk prompts customers to either tap their payment card or to look at a face-scanning camera to be enrolled in ‘FacePay’. The latter also requires customers to download an app in order to register. It’s the latest sign of the growing prominence of biometric payments technology in the UAE after Carrefour launched face-scanning terminals in Dubai earlier this year.

OCR Labs Is Now ‘IDVerse’

OCR Labs has rebranded as “IDVerse”, aiming to better reflect the breadth of its portfolio of technology solutions, which now extends far beyond Optical Character Recognition and includes biometric liveness detection and age verification, among other solutions. The company will also place a new emphasis on what it calls “Zero Bias AI”. “Our diversity of background, skills, and experience allows us to build the future of identity verification – a single point of access for everything your customers want to do online, across all devices, everywhere in the world they happen to be,” said CEO John Myers.

Shufti Pro Helps Logistics Platform Operator With KYC Compliance

Shufti Pro is now providing identity verification services for Dacodasoft SRL, the operator of two logistics platforms in Europe that connect road freight transport operators with traders. Security is an important part of Dacodasoft SRL’s brand; the company guarantees that no cargo thefts will affect its clients. That, together with its need to implement GDPR-compliant Know Your Customer screening, likely was an important factor leading it to Shufti Pro, which also recently provided identity verification services for Spotter, a gym-finding app.

Censo Leverages Mobile Biometrics for Innovative Digital Key Management Solution

Censo, a FinTech startup, has announced a new digital key management solution for the enterprise that offers decentralized key management without relying on the conventional Multi-Party Computation model of cryptography. Instead, the solution relies on blockchain-based smart contracts as well as the sophisticated authentication mechanisms offered by today’s smartphones. “Censo leverages the secure hardware enclaves present in today’s mobile devices together with their biometric gating to tightly bind cryptographic keys to an organization’s users’ nuanced real-world roles,” explained Brett Falk, a research assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

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June 12, 2023 – by Alex Perala