• REMOTE IDENTIFICATIONTrack 2 of the Remote Identity Validation Tech Demo Challenge

    DHS S&T announces the launch of Track 2 of the Remote Identity Validation Technology Demonstration (RIVTD). RIVTD is a series of technology challenges to evaluate the ability of systems to authenticate identity documents, assess the “liveness” of selfie photos, and evaluate identity verification using images taken with smartphones and similar devices.

  • BIOMETRICSU.K. Police Fail to Meet “Legal and Ethical Standards” in Use of Facial Recognition

    Researchers devise an audit tool to test whether police use of facial recognition poses a threat to fundamental human rights, and analyze three deployments of the technology by British forces – with all three failing to meet “minimum ethical and legal standards.”

  • BIOMETRICSFacial Recognition Technology and Counter-Terror Operations

    By Akshat Upadhyay

    The use of facial recognition technology in counterterrorism must address several formidable challenges before being adopted. This means we should proceed careful, even cautiously, before operationalizing the technology.

  • BIOMETRICSFacial Recognition: U.K. Plans to Monitor Migrant Offenders Are Unethical – and They Won’t Work

    By Namrata Primlani

    The UK Home Office plans to make migrants convicted of criminal offences scan their faces five times a day using a smart watch equipped with facial recognition technology. This is a mistake. The difficulty working with darker skin tones reflects the experiences of people of color who try to use facial recognition technology. In recent years, researchers have demonstrated the unfairness in facial recognition systems, finding that the software and algorithms developed by big technology companies are more accurate at recognizing lighter skin tones than darker ones.

  • BIOMETRICSDeepfakes Expose Vulnerabilities in Facial Recognition Technology

    Mobile devices use facial recognition technology to help users quickly and securely unlock their phones, make a financial transaction or access medical records. But facial recognition technologies that employ a specific user-detection method are highly vulnerable to deepfake-based attacks that could lead to significant security concerns.

  • BIOMETRICSQuantum-Inspired Approach Allows Lidar to Be used for Facial Recognition

    Quantum-inspired technique can be used to perform lidar imaging with a much higher depth resolution than is possible with conventional approaches. Lidar, which uses laser pulses to acquire 3D information about a scene or object, is usually best suited for imaging large objects such as topographical features or built structures due to its limited depth resolution. By capturing more details, new approach could make lidar useful for facial recognition.

  • BIOMETRICSBreath Biometrics: Sniffing Out Your Identity

    Biometric authentication like fingerprint and iris scans are a staple of any spy movie, and trying to circumvent those security measures is often a core plot point. Now, researchers have developed a new potential odorous option for the biometric security toolkit: your breath.

  • IT SECURITYIdentifying Fake Voice Recordings

    Artificial intelligence can imitate people’s voices. Scammers are already taking advantage of this on the phone. A team of researchers is working on a solution.

  • BiometricsGait Authentication to Enhance Smartphone Security

    Real-world tests have shown that gait authentication could be a viable means of protecting smartphones and other mobile devices from cyber crime. A study showed that a method sensing an individual’s gait was on average around 85 percent accurate in recognizing the individual.

  • PrivacyFace Recognition Is So Toxic, Facebook Is Dumping It

    By Matthew Guariglia

    Facebook’s decision to end its face-recognition program comes at a time when face recognition technology is receiving push back, criticisms, and legislative bans across the United States, and the globe.

  • Vaccine passportsVaccine Passport Missteps We Should Not Repeat

    By Alexis Hancock, Adam Schwartz, and Jon Callas

    As they roll out, we must protect users of vaccine passports and those who do not want to use—or cannot use—a digitally scannable means to prove vaccination. We cannot let the tools used to fight for public health be subverted into systems to perpetuate inequity or as cover for unrelated, unnecessary data collection.

  • AfghanistanThe Taliban May Have Captured the Biometric Data of Civilians Who Helped the U.S.

    By Lucia Nalbandian

    In 2007, the United States military began using a small, handheld device – calledHandheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment (HIIDE) — to collect and match the iris, fingerprints, and facial scans of over 1.5 million Afghans against a database of biometric data.HIDE was initially developed by the U.S. government as a means to locate insurgents and other wanted individuals.HIDE, andits collected data,  are speculated to have been captured by the Taliban.There is a lesson here: If security and privacy cannot be ensured, then biometric data collection and use should not be deployed in conflict zones and crisis response.

  • China watchMembers of Scientific Journal Editorial Board Resign over China Genetics Papers

    Eight members of the editorial board of Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine have resigned after the journal published several controversial papers which “critics fear could be used for DNA profiling and persecution of ethnic minorities in China.”

  • Genomic securityChinese Company’s Global Genetic Data Collection Poses Economic, Security Threats: Experts

    By Adrianna Zhang

    A Chinese gene company is collecting genetic data through prenatal tests from women in more than 50 countries— including Germany, Spain and Denmark, as well as in Britain, Canada, Australia, Thailand, India and Pakistan. Collecting the biggest and most diverse set of human genomes could propel China to dominate global pharmaceuticals, and also potentially lead to genetically enhanced soldiers, or engineered pathogens to target the U.S. population or food supply, biosecurity experts told Reuters.

  • Genomic securitySen. Rubio Urges Senate to Pass Genomics Data Security Act

    Senator Marco Rubio urged the Senate to pass his Genomics Data Security Act following a new Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) report, which found that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) did not consider national security risks for any CMS programs. Rubio noted that Chinese and Russian labs may be receiving federal dollars to processing Americans’ genomic data.