Hackers Take the Stage – 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:

Proposed Bill Paves Way for Biometric ID Program in Guyana

The Prime Minister of Guyana has presented a bill to the National Assembly that would establish the legal framework for a biometric national ID system. In particular it would enable the government to establish a ‘Digital Identity Card Registry’ the would collect the identity data of citizens and non-citizens alike, including face and fingerprint data. It would also clear the way for the issuance of digital ID cards and a ‘Non-Citizen Digital Identity Card’. The government has already awarded a $35.4 million contract to Veridos to implement a ‘Single Electronic Identification System’ for the issuance of digital IDs. Veridos was one of two potential vendors recommended for the project by the United Arab Emirates in late 2021, at Guyana’s request.

Rights Groups Focus On Accuracy in Response to NIST’s COPPA Request

Human Rights Watch and 5Rights Foundation have together responded to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s recent call for comment on the use of face biometrics in obtaining parental consent under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The rights advocates are mainly concerned about the accuracy of such technologies, and ask NIST to assess accuracy based on their ability to estimate age in discrete years, rather than broad age groups. They also ask NIST to include data about the direction of error in any testing of age estimation technologies, and to disclose information about its testing datasets to “organizations and researchers focused on child and human rights.”

Macau to Test Iris-Based Border Control

Government authorities in Macau are preparing to roll out 500 iris scanning devices as part of a border control pilot, according to a new report. An initial testing phase overseen by law enforcement authorities was recently completed; now, the government will ask Macau residents over the age of 18 to undergo iris scans when crossing border checkpoints. A third phase will link individuals’ iris data directly to the Macau Resident Electronic ID Card.

Uniken’s REL-ID Achieves SOC Type 1 Compliance

New Jersey-based Uniken has announced that its REL-ID platform has attained SOC 2 Type 1 compliance in testing by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). REL-ID is a software development kit that allows client organizations to embed digital security solutions into their mobile apps, including a threat detection system that scans for malware and man-in-the-middle attacks, and a multi-layer authentication system that includes support for facial recognition.

iDenfy Provides Biometric Onboarding Tech for Payout

iDenfy has established a partnership with Payout, a Lithuania-based FinTech company. Payout, which provides payment solutions to medium-sized businesses, has adopted the former’s selfie-based remote onboarding solution, which includes liveness detection technology, enabling the company to offer the service to its clients. The company says that its iDenfy-powered onboarding system comprises a four-step process that can be completed in less than two minutes. The news comes after iDenfy’s recent announcements of new partnerships in the crypto space.

Hackers Headline Major FIDO Events

The FIDO Alliance has announced the agenda for its annual Authenticate event. This year’s conference, slated to run October 16 to 18 at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in California, will feature speakers from 1Password, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Yubico, as well as a keynote address from Rachel Tobac, a white hat hacker and social engineering expert who has been featured on CNN and 60 Minutes. There will be 125 speakers in total, and over 90 sessions. Early bird registration is open until August 18.

FIDO has also updated the agenda for its upcoming FIDO APAC Summit, which will feature Hieu Minh Ngo, a convicted former hacker who now works as a cybersecurity specialist. “I am excited to be part of the FIDO APAC Summit 2023 to share my experiences on how going passwordless can thwart phishing attacks and impart valuable lessons to attendees,” he said. The event, which is being co-hosted by Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications, will run from August 28 to 30 in Vinpearl Nha Trang.

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August 4, 2023 – by Alex Perala