‘We Will Execute You’ – Biometrics and the Russo-Ukrainian War: 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:

Regulatory Developments

The European Commission has published a draft version of its Cyber Resilience Act. Among other requirements, the proposed regulation would lay out a range of design and development guidelines for connected devices aimed at ensuring a high level of security, and would require manufacturers to actively report data breaches and other cybersecurity incidents. The draft legislation will now be considered by the European Parliament and Council for approval.

Mobile Biometrics

Google is letting some of its Android users set up biometric authentication for access to their Incognito tabs on its Chrome browser. The new system, which has quietly been rolled out to select users, uses fingerprint recognition as its sole modality, with the option to revert to a PIN. While Android is Google’s own mobile operating system platform, it enabled a biometric unlock feature for Incognito tabs on iOS over a year ago.

Airport Biometrics

The Star Alliance is aiming to get about half of its 26 members to use biometric passenger processing technology by 2025. It isn’t an official requirement, but it’s the first time that the world’s largest airline alliance has set a specific target, Customer Experience VP Christian Draeger told Reuters. Citing data from SITA, the report notes that 38 percent of airports plan to implement biometric passenger screening over the next three years.

Automotive Biometrics

Huawei has developed an electric car through its AITO brand, and it features biometric tech for driver recognition. The AITO Wenjie M5’s A-pillar features a built-in facial scanning system that will automatically adjust in-car settings to the recognized driver’s preferences. It can also be used as a security mechanism, preventing an unrecognized driver from starting the car.

Aadhaar Biometrics

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which oversees India’s expansive biometric ID system, Aadhaar, is planning to enable selfie-based authentication for mobile access to government e-services. Speaking to The Economic Times, an unnamed government official added that the UIDAI will also encourage residents to update their Aadhaar biometrics every ten years.

Widespread glitches in the operation of biometric readers are causing serious disruption in the distribution of food in the Indian city of Chennai, according to a report from The New Indian Express. The Indian government offers subsidized food and other items through a network of “ration shops”, which now require biometric authentication from customers approved to make purchases. TNIE reports that “thousands” of customers were turned away on Thursday due to problems with the biometric scanners in ration shops.

Executive Appointments

Zwipe has named Jens Hansen as its new VP and Head of Customer Success. Hansen comes to the company from a position as Head of Commercial, Technology & Data for eBay Classifieds Italy; but much of his early professional career was spent at Ericsson and, later, ST-Ericsson, where he served in leadership roles concerning customer projects. In announcing his appointment, Zwipe explained that Hansen’s focus as its new VP will be “to scale up and speed up the deployment of Zwipe Pay and Zwipe Access customer projects and commercial launches,” referring to its biometric payment card and access control solutions.

Industry Events

The Biometrics Institute has formally announced its upcoming flagship event, the Biometrics Institute Congress, which is scheduled to run from October 25 to 28 in London. Isabelle Moeller, the organization’s Chief Executive, explained that the event will “address important challenges right now including tackling public misunderstanding of biometrics, managing a lag in policy and standards development, mitigating biometric fraud and deep fakes, and understanding how the industry can best work towards interoperability for a growing mobile and interconnected world.” More than 250 attendees are expected for the in-person event.

Biometric Intel

Facial recognition technology has helped to verify that Russia is recruiting soldiers from the country’s prisons. A video surfaced this week showing an individual addressing a group of Russian prisoners, offering them a chance at freedom if they agree to fight in Ukraine, while warning, “if you arrive in Ukraine and decide it’s not for you, we will execute you.” Facial recognition was used to identify the man as Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of a private military contractor called the Wagner Group.

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September 16, 2022 – by Alex Perala

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