What’s On the UK Border Force’s Shopping List? – 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:

UK Border Force Seeks Next-Gen e-Gates

Phil Douglas, the Director General of the United Kingdom’s Border Force, said his agency is currently “looking to procure” next-generation e-gates for border control. Acting under the Home Office, the Border Force is responsible for operating all of the UK’s ports of entry. Douglas made his comments to an audience at the Airlines 2023 conference, where he also predicted that physical passport checks will fall out of prominence over the next two to three years as the use of biometrics and automated systems ramps up.

French Political Party Takes ‘Legal Action’ Over Police Use of Facial Recognition

La France Insoumise (LFI), a prominent French political party, says it is “in the process of taking legal action” concerning the national police force’s allegedly illegal use of facial recognition technology, which came to light through a report from the investigative journalism outlet Disclose earlier this month. LFI members have also called for a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the matter. Addressing the French Assembly, LFI deputy Aurélien Saintoul asserted that the police’s use of facial recognition from Israel-based Briefcam “contravenes the law, whether the GDPR, the Data Protection Act and, more recently, the Olympic Games law.”

CLEAR Prepares Customers for Transition to Facial Recognition

CLEAR has announced a change to its expedited screening process for air travel. The company will transition its existing system, which is based on fingerprint and iris scans, to a “NextGen Identity+” process based on facial recognition over the course of 2024. The company has emailed members of its CLEAR Plus program informing them of the need to verify their phone number, and to present ID and take a new photo at a CLEAR kiosk. It’s not clear if the change is related to the Transportation Security Administration’s push for stricter security requirements reported this past summer. In any case, CLEAR suggests the incoming face-based system will be faster for CLEAR members, noting that it will “eliminate the need for members to stop at a CLEAR pod.”

NY Health Organization Reports Data Breach

Wyoming County Community Health System, a healthcare organization in the state of New York, has notified patients of a data breach in which an unauthorized entity gained access to records including social security numbers, driver’s license details, health insurance information, and biometric data. The breach was discovered back in March of this year, when WCCHS’s network was disrupted; but it only began sending letters informing customers of the breach on November 16.

Movano’s Biometric Ring Hits the Market

Movano’s Evie Ring has now hit the consumer market, retailing for $269. First announced at the start of the year, the Evie Ring is equipped with biometric sensors to track heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration rate, blood oxygen saturation, and skin temperature. It can also track steps, caloric expenditure, and sleep cycles. The device is being marketed primarily to women, with an accompanying app inviting users to log their menstrual symptoms.

UK’s Idency Teams With The Access Group

United Kingdom-based Idency has entered into a strategic partnership with The Access Group, a provider of business management software in the country. Idency is an enterprise-focused provider of networking, authentication, and time and attendance solutions. Its new partnership with The Access Group will revolve around the integration of biometric time and attendance technology into the latter’s PeopleHR cloud service.

Xailient Partners With China’s Hualai Technology

Xailient has revealed a partnership with Hualai Technology Co., Ltd., a China-based provider of consumer electronics, including smart home solutions. The companies have been working together over the last 18 months on smart cameras outfitted with Xailient’s computer vision and facial recognition technology. They will showcase their joint solutions at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The news comes after Xailient announced a partnership with Konami near the start of the month.

HYPR, Yubico Offer Joint Enterprise Solution

HYPR and Yubico have teamed up on a new joint solution for authentication in the enterprise. As HYPR CEO Bojan Simic explains, the solution offers “a seamless passwordless authentication experience that provides flexibility to use both software or hardware, accelerating user adoption.” Broadly speaking, Yubico is providing the hardware, in the form of its USB and NFC security keys, while HYPR is delivering virtual tokens to support software-driven forms of authentication, such as logging into a workstation using a smartphone.

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November 21, 2023 – by Alex Perala