The EU’s Draft AI Act Lurches Forward: 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:

EU’s AI Act Proceeds to Final Negotiations Stage

Members of the European Parliament have agreed to move the bloc’s draft “AI Act” to the “trilogue” stage. EU regulators have been working on the regulatory legislation for almost two years, and, as Reuters reports, the trilogue is the stage of negotiations in which members will hammer out the bill’s final details. The AI Act is expected to cover a range of concerns, including biometric surveillance technologies and, thanks to recent amendments, generative AI tools like ChatGPT.

Portugal Approves €2.5M for EES Border Tech

The Portuguese government has formally authorized the country’s Foreigners and Borders Service to proceed with the procurement and installation of a biometric border control systems that will be compliant with the European Union’s forthcoming Entry/Exit System (“EES”), and to assume its budgetary costs. The government indicated that it expects the project to come with a price tag of about €2.5 million. The deadline for EES implementation has been delayed multiple times, and is now expected to be pushed back to 2024.

J&J to Face BIPA Lawsuit Over Neutrogena Skin Care Service

The US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has ruled that Johnson & Johnson will have to face a proposed class action lawsuit under the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), rejecting a motion for dismissal. The lawsuit concerns a J&J service called “Skin360”, offered through the company’s Neutrogena skin care brand, that purports to assess an end user’s skincare needs through a webcam scan. J&J is alleged to have violated BIPA through Skin360’s collection of biometric information, and through the company’s alleged sharing of that information for profit.

LA Banh Mi Chain Deploys Palm Payment Tech

Los Angeles’s Pho Banh Mi Che Cali restaurant chain has become the first to launch PopID’s new palm-scanning payment solution, allowing customers who register their payment cards and their biometric data to authorize a purchase with the wave of a hand, and with no need to present a payment card, cash, or any other payment token. PopID announced the addition of palm biometrics to its PopPay platform earlier this month, offering an alternative to its existing face-scanning system.

ROC.ai Gets HUBZone Certification

Rank One Computing (or “ROC.ai”) has obtained HUBZone certification from the Small Business Administration. The HUBZone program is meant to support small enterprises situated in Historically Under-utilized Business Zones; ROC.ai qualifies thanks to its headquarters’ location in Denver, Colorado, and its US-based ownership and domestically-hired workforce. It is a fitting certification, given that the company has long placed an emphasis on its facial recognition technology’s American origins.

NEXT Biometrics Nabs $1.4M MoU With Indian Partner

NEXT Biometrics has established a Memorandum of Understanding with another India-based partner, entailing a purchase order commitment valued at $1.4 million. The unnamed partner is interested in integrating the NEXT FAP 20 fingerprint sensor into its own devices, and NEXT says it could amount to up to $2.8 million in business for the Oslo-based firm per year. The news comes after NEXT established an $2.2 million agreement with an India-based OEM last year. NEXT says it expects to reach a final commercial agreement for this latest MoU by the end of the third quarter of 2023.

iDenfy Provides Identity Tech for Another Investing Platform

iDenfy has found another client for its biometric identity verification platform: The company is now handling onboarding and KYC/AML compliance for Delaware-based Fincapital Partners, which offers an investment platform that links to an end user’s debit card or International Bank Account Number. “Our primary focus was eliminating manual processes and increasing automation to streamline our compliance workflow,” explained Fincapital Partners CEO Adrien Brousse. The news comes after Lithuania-based crypto exchange GOAT Finance embraced iDenfy’s onboarding solution earlier this year.

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April 28, 2023 – by Alex Perala