ID R&D Matches PIN Performance With Voice Authentication Tech

ID R&D is boasting about its strong performance in a recent third-party test that suggests that its voice biometrics technology is just as reliable as a PIN when unlocking a device. In the test, the company’s voice authentication solution had only a 0.01 percent false acceptance rate and a five percent false rejection rate when using a device microphone to verify the owner’s identity.

According to ID R&D, those results are noteworthy because they indicate that voice authentication can be a viable alternative to PIN security, since the accuracy figures in the test rival those that can be achieved with a PIN. That makes for a sharp break with the past, with ID R&D acknowledging that while voice recognition was convenient, it was not strong enough to serve as a primary unlocking option, at least until ID R&D’s latest breakthrough. 

As far as the end user is concerned, ID R&D argued that the achievement is significant because it will enable a slew of hands-free applications. Users would be able to unlock a phone, a laptop, or another IoT device with only a simple voice command, while remaining confident that no one else will be able to exploit the system to gain illegitimate access to the device. Voice authentication could also be used to gain access to various applications (including financial applications) and perform simple tasks once a device is unlocked.

“ID R&D is focused on R&D efforts that move the market forward and enable new and exciting use cases for biometrics,” said ID R&D Chief Scientific Officer Konstantin Simonchik. “As voice becomes the de facto standard for interacting with everything from our televisions to our cars, biometrics emerge as the most convenient way to identify users for security and personalization.”

ID R&D’s voice liveness detection tech was good enough for a first-place finish at the last ASVspoof Challenge in 2019. The company recently released a new voice authentication solution for the WhatsApp for Business platform, and has partnered with Red Box to deliver a similar voice solution for contact centers.

–

March 8, 2021 – by Eric Weiss