Welcome to FindBiometrics’ digest of identity industry news. Here’s what you need to know about the world of digital identity and biometrics today:
Social Media Platforms Must Guard User Data Against Scraping: Canadian Privacy Commissioner
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has issued a statement clarifying that personal information that is publicly accessible, such as that published on social media, is still subject to data privacy laws, and that web platforms hosting the data have a responsibility to protect it from unlawful data scraping. The statement notes that recent years have seen increasing reports of mass data scraping for a range of purposes, including the construction of facial recognition databases.
Thoma Bravo Completes ForgeRock Acquisition
Thoma Bravo has officially completed its acquisition of ForgeRock through an all-cash transaction valued at about $2.3 billion. The deal was first announced last October, and approved at ForgeRock’s Special Meeting of Stockholders near the start of this year. In announcing the closure of the deal, Thoma Bravo said that it has “combined ForgeRock into its portfolio company Ping Identity.” Both ForgeRock and Ping host identity solutions marketplaces through which third party solutions can be acquired. The former’s ForgeRock Marketplace welcomed BlockID to the fold earlier this year, and added Daon’s IdentityX at the end of 2022.
IMEC Innovates in IR Imaging Tech
The Belgian tech firm IMEC has developed a pinned diode structure for thin-film sensors that allows for cost-effective imaging of infrared light. The company says it offers applications in areas such as IR cameras in autonomous vehicle and face-scanning smartphone cameras. Project lead Nikolas Papadopoulous says the first-of-its-kind prototype enables infrared images to be captured “with less noise, distortion or interference, and more accuracy and detail.” His team’s project has been detailed in the August 2023 issue of Nature Electronics, in a paper title “Pinned photodiode for monolithic thin-film image sensors”.
Mauritania Requires Biometric SIM Registration
Mauritania is requiring mobile operators to register the biometric data of subscribers, with a deadline set for October 6. The country’s regulator, Autorité de Régulation Multisectorielle (ARE), recently warned that mobile subscribers who fail to register their SIMs will see their mobile services suspended. It’s part of a broader government effort to enhance security in the country, according to a report from Ecofin Agency.
CyberLink Upgrades Flagship Facial Recognition Platform
CyberLink has launched an upgraded version of its flagship facial recognition platform, FaceMe. The API kit now includes a new ‘Developer Resources’ page to help get applications built quickly, and supports the Docker containerization technology used by Red Hat Linux developers. In announcing the upgrade, CyberLink CEO Jan Huang explained that the changes are meant to give customers “greater flexibility to create their own personalized facial recognition solutions,” adding that the Developer Resource page in particular will give developers “an easier path to design, test, and implement facial recognition solutions that perfectly match their organization’s requirements.”
Zwipe Issues H1 Update
Zwipe has issued a corporate update on the first half of the 2023 fiscal year, during which the company saw the first commercial launches of fingerprint-scanning cards built on its Zwipe Pay platform. Revenues for H1 came in at NOK 1.7 million, compared to revenues of NOK 0.8 million in the first half of 2022. Operating expenses were also up, from NOK 48.4 million in H1 of 2022 to NOK 57.5 million in the first half of this year. Zwipe’s net result for the first half of 2023 was a net loss of NOK 55.7 million, compared to a net loss of NOK 47.6 million a year ago. Zwipe noted a “delayed volume ramp-up in biometric payment cards,” but also stressed that its recently announced restructuring will help Zwipe’s management to focus on “thoughtfully deploying funds to keep Zwipe on the path to real commercialization”.
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August 24, 2023 – by Alex Perala
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