Politics, Partnerships, and Certifications: 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:

Nigeria Prepares for Biometric Elections

Nigeria is preparing for upcoming national elections that will feature biometric voter verification. Authorities with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) staged mock voter authentication trials on the weekend, with polling units designed to scan voters’ faces and fingerprints. The units were observed to generally verify subjects in sessions lasting between 30 seconds and two minutes, with isolated instances of glitches, particularly in scans of elderly voters. The presidential and parliamentary elections are slated for February 25.

Ireland’s Green Party to Block FRT for Police

Ireland’s Green Party plans to block a new law that would open the door to the use of live facial recognition technology in certain situations by An Garda Síochána, the national police force. Ireland’s Fine Gael party had sought to amend legislation to allow police FRT at the request of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, who wanted it for investigations involving serious crimes, but the Green Party argues that Ireland should follow the lead of the European Union, which is expected to pass laws governing the police use of facial recognition in 2024.

Biometric Punch Clock Maker Faces BIPA Lawsuit

Timeco Systems, a specialist in biometric time and attendance systems, is now facing a proposed class action lawsuit under Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The lawsuit alleges that Timeco breached BIPA by collecting and storing the fingerprint biometrics of its devices’ end users without their consent, and for failing to detail a data retention policy. The lawsuit has been brought by an individual who used Timeco’s fingerprint-scanning punch clock while employed at the Illinois Hilton Garden Inn.

Singlewire Acquires School Safety Platform

Security software specialist Visitor Aware has been acquired by Singlewire Software, a developer of mass notification technology. Visitor Aware offers an access control platform aimed primarily at school campuses that is designed to read visitor IDs and match their faces against government watchlists using facial recognition. “It’s becoming more evident that school safety starts at the front door, so when our school customers started asking us for help with visitor check-in and student management, we went looking for a partner that could offer a solution that would exceed their expectations,” explained Singlewire CEO Paul Shain.

LG Gives Boost to Health Check Startup

Louisiana startup QuickTake Health has been selected to participate in LG Electronics’ North American Innovation Center’s “Mission for the Future”, an accelerator program that invites companies to explore collaboration opportunities with LG NOVA. Founded in 2021, the startup has been working on a kiosk that uses specialized camera technology and biometric sensors to quickly assess a subject’s vital health information, including blood pressure, height, and weight.

Alcatraz Gets BIS Certification

Alcatraz AI’s flagship physical access control solution, the Rock, has received certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards, India’s national quality and safety standards body, opening the door to potentially important new business opportunities. “As we expand our global footprint and provide unparalleled facial authentication solutions to enterprise customers, it is important to meet the regulatory and compliance requirements of key markets such as India,” said CEO Tina D’Agostin. The news comes after Alcatraz attained certifications for a trio of ISO standards near the end of last year.

Car Trading Platform Uses Shufti Pro for IDV

Italy-based Owny has adopted Shufti Pro’s identity verification technology into its platform, which is aimed at facilitating secure and trusted transactions between buyers and sellers of used cars and motorcycles. Shufti Pro, meanwhile, offers a selfie-based identity verification solution based on facial recognition, which was also recently adopted by Safwa Islamic Bank. In a statement, Owny CEO Giacomo Raimondi called Shufti Pro “a serious and solid company”, adding that its partnership “allows Owny to be compliant with European regulations and is, above all essential for the protection of our customers, which is what Owny and Shufti Pro care about the most.”

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February 6, 2023 – by Alex Perala

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