Worker Biometrics In Dispute: 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:

AFL-CIO Urges Biden Administration to Protect Data Onshoring

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the largest federation of unions in the US, is calling on the Biden administration to adopt a set of worker-focused principles as the US Trade Representative’s office negotiates a digital trade agreement as part of a proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. The AFL-CIO’s principles primarily revolve around setting strong labor standards that prevent the exploitation of ‘gig workers’, but the organization is also calling for the agreement to let partner governments set their own rules about keeping workers’ sensitive information, such as biometric data, stored on domestic servers.

Arby’s Settles BIPA Lawsuit

Arby’s has reached a $495,000 settlement in a class action lawsuit brought against the restaurant chain under Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The lawsuit concerned Arby’s’ use of a fingerprint-scanning time and attendance tracking system for employees, alleging that Arby’s failed to obtain written consent for its collection of biometrics, and failed to provide the proper disclosures about data usage and retention as required under BIPA.

Daon Announces Executive Changes

Daon has promoted Conor White, formerly the company’s President of Americas, to the role of President, New Industries, in which he will be championing the biometric authentication specialist’s global efforts to expand into new markets. Meanwhile, Robert (“Bob”) Long, who had served as the company’s Americas SVP from 2015 to 2019, is returning to Daon, this time as its America’s President. Both of the changes are effective immediately.

VOXX Rotates In New President

VOXX International has appointed Beat Kahli as its new President, replacing Pat Lavelle, who will remain CEO. Kahli is VOXX’s largest shareholder. He is also a “Managing Member” of GalvanEyes LLC, which has an exclusive distribution agreement with VOXX subsidiary EyeLock. In a statement announcing his appointment, Kahli expressed his belief “that EyeLock is still in the beginning stages of its journey and has the potential to turn into a leading Biometrics and advanced authentication organization.”

NC County, Community College Embrace PortalGuard SSO

North Carolina’s Robeson County has become the latest county-level government to embrace BIO-key’s PortalGuard solution for Single Sign-On. The county will use the platform along with BIO-key’s FIDO-compliant security keys to enhance its workstation login system. County governments have proven to be an important component of PortalGuard’s client base, as have academic institutions. On that note, Robeson Community College will also be deployment PortalGuard.

Shufti Pro Launches Risk Assessment, eIDV Tools

Shufti Pro has announced two new product offerings as part of its biometric identity solutions platform. One is a risk assessment solution; in a statement, Shufti Pro explained that it enables businesses to evaluate “customer risk factors through custom questionnaires and fraud prevention data points”. The other solution is an ‘eIDV service’ that is designed to verify an end user’s identity through their government-issued unique identifier number by matching it “against multiple databases”, rather than by scanning a physical identity document.

‘Tenant Lifecycle’ App Integrates Yoti Tech

Bristol-based OpenBrix, a proptech company, will integrate identity and e-signature solution from Yoti into its Tlyfe “tenant lifecycle” app. The companies say that their strategic partnership will enable Tlyfe users to complete ID checks and sign documents entirely through the app, with no need to sign physical documentation. The news comes just a week after Yoti’s announcement of its new eSign with Selfie solution.

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February 8, 2023 – by Alex Perala

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