Privacy and Border Control Are Top Concerns in This Week’s Biometrics News Roundup

Privacy and border control are the big themes in this week’s roundup of FindBiometrics’ most popular stories.

On the privacy front, readers were understandably interested this week in the news that a California State Senator has proposed legislation aimed at offering strong protections for Californians’ biometric data – even above and beyond those outlined in the California Consumer Privacy Act. What’s more, the proposed law even shares an acronym with the country’s most stringent biometric privacy law – Illinois’s BIPA:

California Proposes Stricter Data Privacy Regulations

Privacy was also a major factor in the controversy over the IRS’s decision to use facial recognition to verify the identities of taxpayers filing online. The latest, and perhaps final, entry in this saga arrived this week, with the news that despite pushback from privacy advocates and scrutiny from mainstream media and political actors, the IRS is sticking with ID.me’s selfie-based identity verification for the current tax filing season – though it will also offer a non-biometric option for those who are interested:

IRS Stands By ID.me’s Biometric Verification (for Now)

Reader interest in these stories is understandable given what a big deal the issue of privacy turned out to be in the latest FindBiometrics Year in Review Report. There was a general consensus among respondents that privacy concerns represent one of the biggest challenges that the biometrics industry is going to need to overcome going forward. Further insights on the Report findings were discussed in our recent Year in Review Online Summit, the highlights of which are now available:

Highlights From the FindBiometrics Year in Review Online Summit

As for border control, the Caribbean island nation of Dominica got a lot of attention this week with the news of its pivot to biometric e-passports. Citizens will need to upgrade their previous, machine-readable passports to the new versions by August 30, with the move expected to streamline border screening while improving security:

Dominica Citizens Required to Switch to e-Passports By August 30

And in less benign border security news, officials from the Czech Republic attracted reader interest this week with their plans to ask European Union counterparts to require biometric passports from Russians seeking entry to the Schengen Area – a zone that is meant to facilitate unrestricted travel between its member states. As the invasion of Ukraine was getting underway, Czech officials were concerned about letting bad actors into the Area:

Amid Ukraine Tensions, Czech Officials to Ask EU to Require Biometric Passports From Russian Travelers

Keep reading FindBiometrics to learn more about the exciting world of biometrics. You can also visit our sibling site Mobile ID World for the latest news in digital identity.

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February 25, 2022 – by Alex Perala

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Partners

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