FedRAMP Gets the Fast Track, and DHS Plans IDV Challenges: 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:

FedRAMP Legislation Appended to National Defense Authorization Act

Legislation aimed at revitalizing FedRAMP has been bundled into the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”). The FedRAMP legislation would essentially make FedRAMP official, endowing it with a board and a cloud advisory committee, among other things. The House of Congress is expected to pass the NDAA this week, and the Senate is expected to rubber-stamp it next week, accelerating its path to formal approval by the White House.

DHS S&T Announces 2023 Remote IDV Challenges

The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (“S&T”) has announced plans for a series of “technology challenges” over the course of the next year, dubbed “Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstration” (RIVTD). Organized in partnership with Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Homeland Security Investigations Forensic Laboratory, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the RIVTD challenges will ask participants to deliver secure and accurate solutions for remote identity verification. “In the past year, we’ve seen tremendous innovation from the identity and biometrics industry to adapt to new government and private sector identity needs,” explained Arun Vemury, the Lead of S&T’s Biometric and Identity Technology Center. “While we understand performance will vary among different technology providers, we need to develop measures to evaluate the performance and new risks associated with these capabilities.”

Saudis Establish Huawei Agreement Upon Xi’s Diplomatic Visit

Government officials in Saudi Arabia have established an agreement with China’s Huawei Technologies concerning “cloud computing and building high-tech complexes in Saudi cities,” reports Reuters. The agreement is one of many trade deals established upon a diplomatic visit between China’s Xi Xinping and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who pledged his opposition to “”interference in China’s internal affairs in the name of human rights.” Huawei has come under intense scrutiny in Western countries in recent months over concerns about its facial recognition and surveillance technologies, and its involvement in human rights abuses in China, with the Federal Communications Commission having announced a ban on the US sale of the company’s devices last month.

Solomon Islands Gov’t Plans Biometric Traveler Screening System

The Solomon Islands Government is in discussions with certain stakeholders and ‘an international company’ to introduce a biometric traveler screening system aimed at pre-screening visitors to the Islands. The government says its aim is to streamline the travel and border control experience for visitors while enhancing national security, with facial recognition to play a key role. Before a wider rollout, authorities will conduct a three-month trial, though the government has not indicated when it will begin.

UGA Researchers Develop Ear Recognition System

Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed an ear biometrics system designed to operate through a mobile device’s camera. It can authenticate a subject with an accuracy rate of up to 99 percent, depending on which dataset and models are used. The research was led by Thirimachos Bourlai, who founded and now leads the Multi-Spectral Imagery Lab in UGA’s Driftmier Engineering Center.

São Paulo Metrô Deploys Computer Vision Security

The São Paulo Metrô in Brazil has deployed facial recognition technology across the 1,400 cameras spanning its Line 3-Red, and plans further deployments Line 2-Green and Line 1-Blue over the next 18 months. Metrô authorities are using Intelligent Security Systems’ SecurOS FaceX solution together with its SecurOS Enterprise and SecurOS MCC solutions to track things like intrusions into restricted areas and unaccompanied children, and to identify missing persons.

iQOO Flagships Maintain Mobile Biometrics Trends

The China-based smartphone brand iQOO has unveiled its new flagship devices, the iQOO 11 and the iQOO 11 Pro. So far as biometric security goes, they feature both facial recognition and fingerprint recognition, with the latter implemented under the devices’ displays via ultrasonic, wide-area sensors. The devices are slated to hit the market next week.

French Startup Uses Gesture Recognition to Fight Shoplifting

A French startup is pitching anti-shoplifting AI surveillance that eschews biometrics. Veesion’s solution is instead based on gesture recognition, scanning video feeds for behaviors such as picking up an item and placing it one’s pocket. The company hasn’t offered data concerning its solution’s accuracy, but says that it’s the product of two years of AI training, and that it’s now detecting over 100,000 suspicious gestures per month across 2,000 retail locations.

Ontario Startup Uses Face Biometrics for Vehicle Accessibility

Axcessiom Technologies, an Ontario startup, is working on a face biometrics system designed to let drivers control certain vehicle operations with face movements, such as turning on windshield wipers with a wink. Axcessiom founder Shanjay Kailayanathan has accessibility needs himself, having become paralyzed from the chest down in a car crash as a teenager. He is able to drive using hand controls for the gas and breaks, and reasoned that hands-free tech would be useful for operating other aspects of the car. His startup’s Face IT system is being used in a test vehicle now, and Axcessiom is aiming for a commercial launch in 2024.

Alcatraz AI Upgrades Physical Access Software

Alcatraz AI has upgraded the administrative software of its flagship biometric access control platform, The Rock. Most notably, it now supports login via third party Single Sign-On solutions including Microsoft Azure Active Directory and solutions from Okta and Ping Identity. The SSO is available now, and starting in Q1 of 2023 the platform will also get a ‘profile expiration’ feature that will automatically remove users who haven’t signed in within a specified timeframe.

TECH5 Launches AirSnap Face SDK for Web Apps

TECH5 has launched a new Software Development Kit aimed at making its facial recognition technology available through web interfaces. The T5-AirSnap Face Web solution supports all major browsers, enabling face detection, biometrics capture, and liveness detection; and supporting biometric registration and matching through a connected identity management system. “It can be used for a wide range of use cases – from digital onboarding and verification for banking, to national ID programs, and does not require any specific equipment, making the entire process highly-scalable and cost-effective,” explained TECH5 co-founder, Chairman, and CTO Rahul Parthe.

SiLC Launches FMCW LIDAR Solution

California-based SiLC Technologies has launched Eyeonic Vision System, proclaiming that it is “the only FMCW LiDAR solution to offer polarization information.” SiLC says the solution is aimed at applications in robotics, autonomous vehicles, and smart cameras, among other things, and that it can perceive and identify objects that are more than a kilometer away. The Eyeonic Vision System is already receiving acclaim, having won a CES Innovation Award ahead of next month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Experian Becomes One of the UK’s DISPs

Experian has become the first Credit Reference Agency to be certified as a Digital Identity Service Provider (DISP) under the UK government’s Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF). The certification means that Experian is a qualified provider of Right to Work, Right to Rent, and DBS checks, and can perform such services through digital channels. New employee verification rules mandating in-person meetings or the use of DISPs came into effect in October.

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December 8, 2022 – by Alex Perala