Flying Taxis, Face-Scanning Ads and Mexico’s ‘Sentinel’ – 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:

NASA Uses Biometric Sensors in Air Taxi Research

NASA is using biometric sensors to help research the safety of air taxis. An upcoming test will see NASA research pilot Scott “Jelly” Howe suit up with sensors to track his temperature, heart and respiratory rates, and brain activity, as well as smart glasses that will track eye movements and pupil dilation. NASA’s researchers plan to use this information to understand how humans interact with flight navigation technology, and to train autonomous systems.

King Saud University Researchers Obtain US Patent for Biometric System

A research team at Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University has won a US patent for an iris recognition system. The team was led by Muhammad Khurram Khan, a cybersecurity professor with the school’s Center of Excellence in Information Assurance, and the CEO of a US-based group called the Global Foundation for Cyber Studies and Research. In a statement announcing the patent, the university described it as covering “an innovative method based on multi-algorithm, multi-biometric, and multi-instance approaches to a single biometric source that enhances security and performance of the identification process at significant level,” adding that it has a wide scope of potential applications.

Seguritech, Mexican Authorities Prepare ‘Sentinel’ Surveillance Platform

Contractors with the Mexico-based company Seguritech are working with the country’s Secretary of State Public Security (SSPE) on an ambitious “Sentinel Platform” (or “Plataforma Centinela”) for law enforcement surveillance activities, reports the EFF. Part of it is a “Sentinel Tower” currently under construction in Ciudad Juarez. The overarching platform will incorporate various technologies including license plate readers, drones, and “biometric filters” applied to surveillance feeds that will be used to help authorities catch cartel leaders and collect data on migrants. At least some information will be shared with authorities in Texas, thanks to a Memorandum of Understanding between the states.

TransUnion Report Tackles Fraud in Gig Economy

Roughly half (49 percent) of consumers are in favor of using biometrics for identity verification on “gig economy platforms” like ride-hailing apps, according to new research from TransUnion. Gig platform workers are somewhat less enthusiastic, with about 40 percent of respondents saying they’re in favor of biometric identity verification on the job. Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of Americans report having been the victims of fraud or identity theft as a result of using such platforms.

Amex to Pilot Biometric Payment Authorization System for e-Commerce

American Express is preparing a pilot that will allow participating consumers to authorize purchases with a fingerprint or face scan when shopping online. The system will operate through the company’s SafeKey 3-D Secure platform, and was developed using tools from the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium. A broader rollout of the biometric authorization feature to all US American Express cardholders is planned for early 2024.

Microsoft to Bring Facial Recognition to Teams Rooms in December

Microsoft is preparing to launch a facial recognition feature for its Teams Rooms video conferencing platform for the enterprise. Users will be invited to participate in a face enrolment process that will enable “People Recognition”, a tool that uses facial recognition algorithms to automatically recognize users on a given call. The system is expected to start rolling out in December.

CyberLink Facial Recognition to Be Integrated Into Surveillance VMS

CyberLink’s FaceMe facial recognition system has been integrated into Hanwha Vision’s Wisenet WAVE VMS, a video management system for Hanwha surveillance cameras. The companies say that an unnamed “expo center and fairgrounds” located in Pennsylvania is already using their joint solution to automatically flag blacklisted individuals and to track people in certain situations, such as that of a missing child. The news comes after CyberLink upgraded its FaceMe API kit this past summer.

VSBLTY’s Winkel Media Venture Delivers ‘Record Quarter’

VSBLTY has announced that its joint venture with Winkel Media has resulted in “a record quarter” that included “nearly a quarter million-dollar month in September”. Winkel Media represents a partnership between Anheuser-Busch InBev, Retailigent Media, and VSBLTY, in which the latter’s face biometrics technology is deployed through smart signage, which in turn can display media content based on a given viewer’s demographic criteria, and could even apply facial recognition to its camera feed. VSBLTY says the marketing partnership has led to recurring monthly agreements with brands like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, and Unilever, and that Q4 is expected to be another record-setting quarter.

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October 5, 2023 – by Alex Perala