Privacy-focused biometrics company Keyless has achieved a significant milestone, ranking 11th among more than 150 global vendors in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Face Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) 1:N evaluation. The result marks a major step forward for Keyless, whose privacy-preserving biometric authentication technology is designed to safeguard sensitive data while delivering high accuracy and performance.
NIST’s FRVT 1:N evaluation is widely regarded as the gold standard for assessing facial recognition technologies. It tests an algorithm’s ability to correctly identify individuals from a large database of facial images, measuring performance metrics such as the False Positive Identification Rate (FPIR) and False Negative Identification Rate (FNIR). Keyless’ algorithm demonstrated strong results, especially notable given its use of privacy-enhancing technologies that traditionally pose additional technical challenges.
Keyless’ solution is built on a patented system that breaks biometric data into encrypted “shards” and leverages secure multi-party computation (sMPC) to perform matching without storing any biometric data either centrally or on the user’s device. This architecture ensures compliance with strict privacy regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and enables passwordless authentication with zero data exposure risk.
The strong showing in the FRVT evaluation builds upon Keyless’ earlier debut in the program and follows its successful attainment of eIDAS certification. This certification confirms Keyless’ compliance with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standards for identity verification, positioning the company as a qualified provider for the EU’s Digital Identity Wallet ecosystem.
The latest FRVT results place Keyless in close company with leading vendors such as NEC and Panasonic, whose facial recognition systems are consistently ranked at the top for accuracy in large-scale biometric deployments. While these firms typically dominate in raw accuracy, Keyless distinguishes itself through its commitment to privacy and user-centric design, offering a compelling alternative for organizations prioritizing secure and decentralized identity solutions.
Keyless has also demonstrated strong performance in other NIST evaluations, including the FRVT 1:1 test, where it scored highly in Mugshot-Mugshot comparison scenarios. This reinforces the algorithm’s suitability for identity verification use cases that demand both precision and privacy, such as financial services, remote onboarding, and government eID systems.
“These results show we can deliver high accuracy even when image quality is poor or the system needs to be strict about false matches,” said Paolo Gasti, Keyless’ Co-Founder and CTO. “We’re especially proud of our strong performance in the webcam scenarios, which better reflect the real world.”
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April 10, 2025 – by Cass Kennedy
