Israeli Tech Responds After Hamas Attacks – 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:

Corsight Tech Helps to Identify Hamas Victims at Israeli Hospital

An Israeli hospital is using facial recognition technology from Corsight AI to help identify victims of Hamas’s attacks on the country. Concerned relatives are able to send photos of their loved ones to the Soroka Medical Center, located near Gaza, where administrators will see if any patients registered in the biometric system are a match for individuals in the photos. Corsight AI is headquartered in Tel Aviv, and its staff include former security officials, with its VP of research having been a former cyber warfare agent for the Israeli Air Force. The company gave its technology to Soroka Medical Center for free.

Lawmakers Ask White House to Enshrine AI Bill of Rights in Executive Order

A group of sixteen lawmakers have sent an open letter to the White House asking the Biden administration to incorporate its “AI Bill of Rights” into an anticipated Executive Order concerning AI. The AI Bill of Rights was announced last year as a white paper credited to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and broadly called for the conscientious development and use of AI technologies such as facial recognition. Lawmakers including Senator Edward Markey, Senator Cory Booker, and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, among others, would like the White House to give the paper some teeth by enshrining its provisions in the legally binding Executive Order.

Canada’s Privacy Watchdog Calls for Comment On Updated Biometrics Guidance

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) has issued a call for public comment on plans to update guidance for organizations handling biometric data, as Commissioner Philippe Dufresne says “the use of biometrics is surfacing more frequently” in his office’s investigative work. The OPC has published two draft guidance documents – one that updates the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and another that relates to the Privacy Act, a piece of legislation concerning federal institutions. Stakeholders will be invited to provide comment until January 12, 2024.

Passkeys to Become Default Login On Google

Google has decided to make passkeys the default login option for personal Google Accounts. Users are going to start seeing prompts to go passwordless by creating passkeys when they sign into their accounts. A blog post attributed to Senior Product Manager Sriram Karra and Group Product Manager Christiaan Brand asserted that since Google rolled out support for passkeys earlier this year, the company has “received really positive feedback from our users,” who have been using the mobile-based authentication method across apps like YouTube, Search, and Maps.

Passkeys Come to Another Password Manager

Enpass, meanwhile, has become the latest password management platform to enable support for passkeys. The update applies to Android 14 users, thanks to the operating system’s new “Credential Manager API” allowing passkeys to be stored locally on a user’s device. The move comes just a couple of weeks after Enpass enabled passkey support on iOS. Enpass is also notably enabling users to sync their passkeys across multiple devices. “Syncing passkeys will become the norm over the next few years, and Enpass users get to be some of the first people to use passkeys this way,” the company said in a blog post.

Researchers Explore Biometric Tech for Marketing

MSU Denver Marketing Professor Mick Jackowski believes “we may only be five to 10 years away from AI completely transforming the virtual selling experience,” after visiting the Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences in Finland. The latter school has a laboratory dedicated to research using AI and biometrics in marketing applications. Lab technicians use tools like face biometrics analysis, eye tracking, and galvanic skin response and brainwave monitoring during interviews to understand how a subject responds to marketing messages. Prof. Jackowski was impressed with the work, but said that applying tools like face scanning to virtual meetings doesn’t deliver reliable results — yet.

University of Vermont Study Tracks Student Health With Oura Rings

A study at the University of Vermont is using Oura rings, the sophisticated biometric wearables, to track the health of first-year students in an effort to understand how their bodies respond to health incentives and interventions while on campus. The Lived Experiences Measured Using Rings Study (LEMURS) is being overseen by Chris Danforth, an applied math professor and fellow at the Gund Institute for Environment. Oura rings are tracking metrics including respiratory and heart rates, temperature, and sleep duration and quality, with further data being collected through surveys delivered through an app. The aim is to detect changes in both physiological and mental health conditions.

Dubai-Based Workforce360 Looks to Accelerate Recruitment With authID Tech

authID has signed an agreement with Workforce360 that will see the latter use its identity verification services. Based in Dubai, Workforce360 offers a Software-as-a-Service platform that is aimed at connecting hiring organizations with overseas recruitment agents. The company is looking to speed up the recruitment process through the use of authID’s document-based identity verification solution, which can automatically authenticate over 12,000 government IDs and passports from around the world. News of the partnership arrives on the heels of authID’s announcement of a 300 percent increase in sales, quarter-over-quarter, for Q3 of 2023.

Middle Eastern Retailer Embraces VSBLTY’s Smart Signage

A new partnership will see VSBLTY’s computer vision-enabled smart displays deployed in stores in the Middle East. The company, in partnership with System Security Solutions Company (3S), has teamed up with Lulu Group, which it describes as one of the world’s 50 fastest-growing retailers. Lulu will install VSBLTY’s Digital Displays, which use biometric technology to assess shoppers’ demographic attributes, across 200 locations over the next two years. The news comes after VSBLTY celebrated “a record quarter” in a preview of its Q3 results earlier this month.

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October 11, 2023 – by Alex Perala