Facial Recognition Leads to Arrests as FPC Lands a Million-Sensor Order – 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:

Pakistan’s Central Bank Mandates Biometric IDV for Branchless Banking

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced that branchless banking service providers will have to use biometric identity verification (IDV) for their customers starting January 31, 2024. Such verification will be mandated for any situations in which cash is deposited or withdrawn. SBP is encouraging all Authorized Financial Institutions in the country to deploy biometric verification devices at their physical locations, particularly those operating in areas deemed to be high risk for terrorist financing.

Facial Recognition Deployment Led to Three Arrests: Essex Police

Police in the United Kingdom’s Essex county say their deployment of live facial recognition technology this week led to the arrests of three individuals — one on an outstanding warrant, another as part of a robbery investigation, and a third suspected of rape. Essex Police had previously warned that the public deployments would take place on October 24 and 25, explaining that individuals would be matched against watch lists. The tech was borrowed from South Wales Police. “This was a really positive first deployment of Live Facial Recognition technology in Essex,” commented Detective Superintendent Stephen Jennings. “The vans also acted as a talking point with the public and gave us an opportunity to speak to them about its use and how it works. I’m pleased to say that the reaction we’ve had has been overwhelmingly positive.”

Colorado Cops Mull Return of Facial Recognition After IT Partner Change

Police in the small Colorado town of Wheat Ridge are considering re-introducing facial recognition technology to their arsenal, thanks to a change in the product portfolio offered by their technology partner, Lumen. In 2020, Lumen’s FRT vendor stopped offering the technology, meaning the police no longer had access to it. Now, Lumen has found a new vendor, and the Wheat Ridge Police Department has organized meetings with the public to get feedback on its plans to reinstate the tech. One took place this week, with the others to follow on November 15 and November 29.

Detego Global Launches Face Matching Tool

Detego Global, a subsidiary of the British digital forensics and endpoint monitoring specialist MCM Solutions, has launched a facial recognition tool that it says is twice as fast as the industry average. Detego Analyse AI+ can be deployed on a desktop or laptop, and allows investigators to compile watchlists of suspects, witnesses, victims, and so on. The platform also supports functions including object detection and Optical Character Recognition.

FPC’s Optical Under-Display Sensor Gets Million-Unit Order

Fingerprint Cards says it has received a one-million-unit purchase order for its optical under-display fingerprint sensor, the first time it has reached such a milestone since the company got its first volume purchase order for the solution in December of last year. The company says the order comes from “an Asian smartphone OEM”, though it hasn’t named the client. “We see continued growth in the under-display fingerprint sensor segment, and the fact that we have just received the largest purchase order for our under-display solution to date, for a million units, is testimony to the strength of our technology,” said Haiyuan Bu, the President of FPC’s Mobile, PC & Access China unit. While mobile sensors clearly remain a central component of FPC’s business, the company is seeking to diversify into new areas, and to that end launched a sensor system tailored for PCs this week.

UK’s Online Safety Bill Gets Royal Assent

The United Kingdom’s Online Safety Bill has now received royal assent, officially coming into law. Approved by parliament in September, the legislation requires online publishers to implement age verification processes for content deemed inappropriate for minors. This could lead to more business for certified Identity Service Providers such as Yoti, which is pitching its age estimation and identity verification tools as means to comply with the law. But this will depend to some extent on Ofcom, the country’s communication regulator, which is responsible for drafting codes of practice. “We encourage Ofcom to clarify how they wish to see user verification undertaken, with proportionality and inclusion in mind,” Yoti said in a new blog post.

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October 27, 2023 – by Alex Perala