Refugee Biometrics, Safe City Surveillance, and Massive Cyberattack: 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:

Guidelines and Standards

The United Kingdom’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has officially endorsed post-password authentication mechanisms, including biometrics, in a new guidance entitled “Authentication methods: choosing the right type“. Multi-factor authentication, 2SV, magic links, One-Time Passcodes, and authentication systems based on FIDO2 and OAuth are also endorsed. The guidance was published alongside another, entitled “Removing malicious content to protect your brand”, that is focused on the threat of brand spoofing through things like fake websites, often used in phishing campaigns.

The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Refugees is looking for an international consultant to help draft a report on recommendations for refugee protection and solutions in the Economic Community of West African States. The Refugee Protection Specialist will also be expected to determine minimum standards for refugee protection and to draft a model law for asylum within ECOWAS. In its job posting, the UN agency explains that the role will require a “focus on solutions”, noting that the ECOWAS region “has a very good record of solutions best practices,” such as the ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card, which is used as a passport and official ID across the member states.

Municipal Surveillance

City managers in Hartford, Connecticut have postponed voting on a resolution concerning the municipal police force’s potential use of facial recognition. The decision was made during a meeting of the city’s Quality of Life and Public Safety committee this week, with CT Insider reporting that this is the second time a decision has been postponed as city council members and other officials seek “to learn about the technology and how it could be implemented in Hartford.”

Police in Islamabad are planning to add 2,530 cameras to a “Safe City” surveillance network, according to a report from UrduPoint. The surveillance program supports automated license plate recognition and facial recognition capabilities. Earlier in the year, much of the network had been disabled due to infrastructure issues, but an anonymous source has informed UrduPoint that 99 percent of the cameras are now functional.

Mobile Biometrics

A newly published Samsung patent suggests that the company is exploring the use of a dual under-display camera system to enable 3D face scanning on a mobile device, without the need for a dedicated lens space in the device’s bezel or a screen cutout. The patent was first filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Right Information Service in March of 2021.

Healthcare Biometrics

Sri Lanka’s Hemas Hospitals is developing a “bio-identification” system that will be based on either fingerprint or facial recognition, according to ColomboPage. The report implies that the biometric system will be used to identify patients, noting that the hospital system already assigns each patient a unique identification number that is tied to their National Identity Card or passport.

Mobile ID

Missouri’s Lindenwood University has become the latest academic institution to embrace mobile IDs for students. Like the physical ID cards already in use, the “Pride Pass” mobile IDs will allow users to access dorm facilities and make purchases in the school’s dining halls. Physical IDs remain an option for students who prefer them.

Yoti has joined Tech Nation’s “Future Fifty”, an accelerator program for late-stage tech startups. Now in its eleventh year, Future Fifty has previously helped to boost companies like Deliveroo and the challenger bank Monzo. In announcing the members of its latest cohort, Tech Nation highlighted the digital ID startup’s age verification capabilities, calling Yoti “a world leader in age assurance services to social media and live streaming platforms, adult, gaming, dating and ecommerce sites, physical retailers and gambling terminals”.

The Canadian government is backing away from its use of a mobile border screening app. Citing anonymous government sources, multiple media outlets have confirmed that the use of ArriveCan for arriving travelers will be made optional at the end of this month, effectively scrapping the use of an app that had provoked a raft of complaints from end users, tourism stakeholders, and even some of Canada’s own border guards. Read the full story on Mobile ID World.

Biometric Payments

CAC, a decades-old software and IT company based in Japan, has implemented CyberLink’s FaceMe SDK system into an unstaffed convenience store located on its corporate campus. Since February, over 1,100 CAC employees have had the option of making purchases in the Ministop Pocket store using only their face as a payment token. The cost of each transaction is deducted from a given employee’s next paycheck. In a statement, CyberLink CEO Jau Huang said that the system could eventually incorporate “additional analytical functionality, such as emotion analysis, to enhance employee wellness programs.”

Crikey!

Optus, one of Australia’s largest telecoms, has reported a cyberattack that may have exposed the data of up to 9.8 million customers, representing about 37 percent of Australia’s population. Optus says that no financial data was compromised in the attack, but that PII such as names, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, and even some driver’s license and passport numbers may have been accessed. Optus is working with the Australian Cyber Security Centre to assess the attack.

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September 23, 2022 – by Alex Perala

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