Smart Ring Excitement and Another Biometric Ballpark – 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:

Movano Raises $24 Million as Evie Ring Picks Up Momentum

Movano Health has secured a $24 million private placement to expand its commercial operations, notably for the Evie Ring, a smart ring designed for women with comprehensive biometric tracking capabilities. Movano says the funding round includes a notable $3 million seed investment from a leading medical device company and substantial contributions from company insiders. Since its launch in November 2023, the Evie Ring has seen demand surpass expectations, prompting Movano to aim for FDA clearance to classify Evie as a medical device. The new capital will address previous production constraints and support the launch of Evie Med, a medical device version of the ring. Movano Health also announced that it has completed a second hypoxia trial, verifying the Evie Ring’s pulse oximeter accuracy against FDA standards. That paves the way for broader applications in clinical trials, insurance, remote patient monitoring, and corporate wellness, leveraging FDA-cleared wearables for improved health monitoring and management.

Identiv Sells Security Assets to Vitaprotech

Identiv, Inc. is selling its security-related assets to Vitaprotech for $145 million, refocusing on its core IoT solutions business. This significant sale includes Identiv’s physical security, access card, and identity reader divisions, aiming to boost the company’s financial position and enable growth in the IoT sector. Alongside this, Identiv has appointed Kirsten Newquist as President of IoT Solutions, effective April 15, 2024, leveraging her extensive experience in strategy and product management. The transaction, expected to close in the third quarter of 2024, is expected to allow Identiv to concentrate on high-growth areas like healthcare IoT solutions, and is subject to approvals from stockholders and regulatory bodies, including CFIUS and the FTC under the HSR Act.

New Enclustra SoM Can Support Facial Recognition, Computer Vision Processing

At Embedded World 2024, Enclustra introduced its array of FPGA embedded system on module (SoM) technologies, headlined by the compact Pluto SoM, which can support real-time facial recognition and vision systems processing, among other things. The 30 x 30mm coin-sized module, powered by AMD Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC, is designed to facilitate the development of compact and portable applications across various sectors including industrial, healthcare, and security. Beyond facial recognition, Pluto’s capabilities extend to medical smart glasses, VR, environmental monitoring, drones, autonomous navigation, and AI inference, demonstrating its versatility.

Vanix Launches AI-Driven Surveillance System

Vanix Technologies, based in Hyderabad, India, has launched VanixWatch, an AI-based video surveillance system. Developed by the company’s engineers and developers, VanixWatch incorporates the Cosmos AI Surveillance System to provide security features. The system includes facial recognition for secure access control and identification, license plate recognition for automating toll and parking management, and an AI-powered attendance management system for automated tracking and reporting. In announcing VanixWatch, Vanix did not disclose metrics concerning the speed or accuracy of its facial recognition technology.

MLB’s Biometric Entry System Comes to San Francisco

Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants are offering a new option for fans to enter Oracle Park quickly. The MLB’s Go-Ahead Entry program allows fans to upload selfies through the MLB Ballpark app and bypass the regular ticket lines via facial recognition. This system aims to shorten wait times, especially during peak hours. Privacy advocates have expressed concerns about the technology, but users have the option to avoid it by using traditional ticket scanning lanes. The Giants emphasize that Go-Ahead Entry doesn’t store facial data and only scans the primary account holder to admit their entire party.

Meta Grapples With FTC Over Privacy Case

Meta (formerly Facebook) is contesting the US Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) attempt to modify a 2020 privacy settlement. Meta argues that it already disclosed privacy-related bugs in its Messenger Kids app, and that it has invested heavily in privacy initiatives. The FTC wants to strengthen the settlement, citing concerns about Meta misleading parents about data privacy for children and its use of facial recognition technology. This dispute comes after a US appeals court allowed the FTC to reopen its probe into Facebook’s privacy practices.

Florida City Abandons FRT Plan After ACLU Pushback

The Lakeland Downtown Development Authority (LDDA) in Florida has decided to discontinue the use of facial recognition technology in its surveillance cameras, citing concerns over potential lawsuits from the ACLU as the primary reason. The LDDA’s initial plan involved the installation of surveillance cameras equipped with FRT to monitor and identify individuals with a known history of trespassing and threatening behavior in the downtown area. However, the ACLU argued that the use of facial recognition infringes on privacy rights, and announced earlier this week that it had filed public records requests seeking more information about the city’s plan.

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April 5, 2024 – by Alex Perala and Tony Bitzionis