The DHS Wants a Digital Wallet – 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:

DHS S&T Calls for Digital Wallet and Mobile Verifier Solutions

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has issued a formal solicitation for “Privacy Preserving Digital Credential Wallets & Verifiers”. The solicitation is being administered by S&T’s Silicon Valley Innovation Program (SVIP), and will offer participating companies up to $1.7 million in non-dilutive funding over four phases of development. S&T says it is essentially looking for two things: one is a digital wallet that can “support the broad range of credentials possible with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Verifiable Credential Data Model (VCDM) and W3C Decentralized Identifiers (DID) standards”; while the other is a software-based “Mobile Verifier” that would be compatible with Android and iOS devices. The deadline for applications is 3:00 p.m. ET on September 15, 2023.

Aussies Formalize Online Biometric IDV Plans

The Australian government has formally announced plans to leverage face-based biometrics for identity verification online. It did so via the publication of a “National Strategy for Identity Resilience”, in which the government also committed to securing the biometric data of citizens who consent to sharing it, and protecting their privacy. The aim is to ensure convenience and security in accessing online services, with a commitment to interoperability between different government systems. In a joint statement, Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil emphasized the need to establish “a future-ready identity system,” adding that the work “starts with a nationally consistent and coordinated approach to identity and strong partnerships between Commonwealth and state and territory governments.”

Biometric Payments Come to Steak n Shake

The Steak n Shake restaurant chain has become the latest to embrace PopID’s biometric payments system, announcing plans to deploy it at select locations in Orlando. PopID Check will let customers register for a face-based sign-in system to let them access their loyalty rewards and see their past orders, while the PopPay system will let them purchase a meal with a face scan, and with no need to present cash, a card, or any other hardware token. Steak n Shake says it plans to roll out the system to over 300 locations after its Orlando debut. The restaurant follows Los Angeles’s Pho Banh Mi Che Cali chain’s launch of PopID’s palm-scanning payment system in April of this year.

Upgraded Regula Solution Looks for ‘Ghosts’

Regula has upgraded its identity verification platform to enhance its ability to detect potential image manipulations that signal ID forgery. In a new post, the company explains that its updated Regula Document Reader SDK will automatically detect not only the image on a piece of photo ID, but also any secondary or “ghost” images that may not be visible to the naked eye – a common feature of contemporary identity documents – such as kinegrams, lenticular images, or images that are only visible under ultraviolet light. Beefing up security even further, the Regula Face SDK can be paired with this feature to check primary and secondary images against each other, with failure to match them offering another sign of potential forgery.

Feedzai Partners With Portuguese Bank

Feedzai has established a partnership with Novobanco, a major Portuguese bank, that will revolve around its “RiskOps” platform for automated risk assessment. In a statement, the companies described their partnership as an “ongoing programme of investment”, and specified that Novobanco will use Feedzai’s Digital Trust (DT) and Transaction Fraud for Banking (TFB) solutions in particular, allowing the bank to analyze “customer biometrics and behaviour,” among other potential risk signals. Feedzai obtained behavioral biometrics technology through its acquisition of Revelock in 2021.

Sumsub Teams With White Label Crypto Platform Provider

Sumsub has teamed up with AlphaPoint. Focused on the blockchain space, the latter offers clients a white label digital asset exchange, brokerage, and wallet platform. The new partnership will add Sumsub’s identity verification solution, which includes biometric technology, to AlphaPoint’s offering, which in turn will give clients a streamlined onboarding process with enhanced KYC and AML capabilities. The news comes after Sumsub’s announcement last week of an upgrade to its liveness detection technology aimed at making it better able to detect AI-generated deepfakes.

The Happiest Vacation Spot? Head to Honduras…

Manawakie Eco Nature Park in Honduras is the happiest vacation spot in the world, according to a study by the vacation rentals company Casago. The company says it used facial recognition technology to scan Instagram photos taken from the 10 most popular tourist attractions in 100 countries, scoring them based on signs of genuine happiness. About 76 percent of the photos from Manawakie Eco showed people who were having a really good time. The happiest tourist spot in the United States, meanwhile, was the Empire State Building, enjoyed by 57.5 percent of subjects. Casago has not disclosed which particular face biometrics tool it used in its study.

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June 26, 2023 – by Alex Perala