G20 Leaders Commit to Digital ID, With B20 Backing: 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:

CBP Brings Biometric Border Screening to Another Sea Port

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has deployed its biometric border control system to the Port of San Diego, where it is now being used in the debarkation process in partnership with Princess Cruises. When debarking, passengers will be asked to pause for a face scan, with facial recognition technology being used to match them to their passport or visa photo. “As cruise travel resumes around our nation’s ports, it is increasingly important to implement this technology and safely restart cruising, a vital sector of the US travel economy,” explained Jennifer De La O, the CBP’s Director of Field Operations for San Diego.

Irish Civil Liberties Group Warns Against Police Biometrics Powers

The The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has sent a public letter, co-signed by six academics, urging the country’s Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, to reconsider legislative plans that would let Ireland’s national police use facial recognition technology in criminal investigations. The letter cited concerns about such technologies’ potential bias and accuracy problems, and also asserted that its signatories “don’t want to replicate the autocratic character of regimes where this technology gradually becomes normalised in all areas of public life.”

Telangana Education Authorities Trial Mobile Attendance Tracking

Education authorities in the Indian state of Telangana are trialing the use of a mobile-based time and attendance tracking system for teaching and non-teaching staff at schools in the region. The mobile app tracks the end user’s location, and prompts them to take a selfie when clocking in and out. The app is capable of operating offline, uploading the latest clock-in and -out records when an internet connection can be established.

STMicroelectronics Gets EMVCo Certification for Payment Card Platform

STMicroelectronics has obtained EMVCo certification for its biometric payment card platform, STPay-Topaz-Bio. “Card issuers everywhere can now take advantage of our certified STPay platform to deliver new products to market quickly, protected by biometric authentication that is extremely robust as well as easy to use,” said Laurent Degauque, the Marketing Director for STMicroelectronics’ Secure Microcontroller Division. Tag systems, which recently announced a biometric payment cards partnership with Fingerprint Cards, offers a solution based on STPay-Topaz-Bio.

G+D Pursues Payments, Identity Opportunities After Raising €130M

Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) has raised about €130 million through a promissory note loan that will be used for general corporate financing and “to support operational growth in the areas of payments, connectivity, identities and digital security,” the company explained in a statement. The offering was primarily placed with a number of saving banks and cooperative institutions, and was facilitated by Bayerische Landesbank and DZ-Bank. “The fact that we are once again taking out a long-term loan four years after our last promissory note loan is a sign of the great trust that investors place in the strategic direction and solid success of our company,” said G+D CFO Peter Zattler.

Innovatrics Was G20’s Facial Recognition Provider

The facial recognition system used to help secure the recent G20 Summit in Bali was provided by Innovatrics, the Slovakian tech company has revealed. The technology was deployed across a large network of CCTV cameras, and checked individuals’ faces against watch lists from the Home Affairs Ministry’s Directorate General of Population and Civil Registration and the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department’s Indonesian Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). Innovatrics announced an upgrade to its SmartFace solution in September that enabled it to be accessed through an ABIS web application.

G20, B20 Elites Commit to Digital ID

Government officials and business elites expressed general support for digital identity technology at the G20 Summit. The official G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration expressed support for international collaboration on “trusted global digital health networks… that should capitalize and build on the success of the existing standards and digital COVID-19 certificates.” Meanwhile, the B20, or ‘Business 20’ – the official forum for business leaders to message G20 governments – issued policy recommendations including the promotion of digital infrastructure, of which digital identification was highlighted as an important component.

RecFaces ‘Goes Independent’

RecFaces has announced that it “went independent”, establishing a new headquarters in Dubai. In its announcement, the facial recognition specialist was careful to avoid any mention of its previous ownership. According to a Crunchbase listing, RecFaces was previously headquartered in Moscow; and the second-ever press release listed on its website announces the launch of several biometric products on the Russian market. An employee roster on LinkedIn indicates that several staff members, including founder Sergei Levin, are located in the United Arab Emirates, though a few list their location as being in Russia, including CEO Tamara Morozova.

–

November 28, 2022 – by Alex Perala