On the Pulse Conversation: What do you need to know about biometric authentication? 

DURATION
60 minutes

MEETING OUTLINE
The Biometrics Institute aims to deliver content to its members in a timely and concise format. Our online On the Pulse Conversations allow our members to connect globally and discuss important topics as and when the conversation is most needed.

This Conversation will be available on demand to all members. Members are invited to make a short submission to present a three-minute viewpoint on the theme at the start of the conversation. This is limited to a maximum of three viewpoints and requires a request to present.

What do you need to know about biometric authentication and digital identity? How do you know it is the right person using a digital identity?
Governments have been developing plans for digital identity as a way to regularise delivery of citizen services by digital means with potential extension to uses in the commercial sector. Commercially developed access mechanisms are also in regular consumer use to ensure that the right person is granted access to services. External factors like the pandemic have accelerated adoption of digital identities.

In many use cases, biometric technology can be used to ascertain that an interaction is with the right person. It should be considered in the context of the classic three pillars of identity verification: ‘something you have’, ‘something you know’, and ‘something you are’.

Authentication challenges that biometrics can help to resolve:

• Identity theft, in which an attempt is made to create a new digital identity using someone else’s real-world identity but is countered by processes in the Institute’s Digital Onboarding and Biometrics
• Account takeover by a bad actor attempting to take control of an existing digital identity but is countered by strong authentication processes that protect an already established account
• Account recovery which allows a defrauded person to re-take control of their account, and where the process cannot rely upon authentication mechanisms usually used. In some cases, the recovery may in effect be a re-onboarding, where the Institute’s onboarding guidance may be helpful.

The Biometrics Institute is going to launch its latest guiding paper Digital Identity and Biometric Authentication with recommended good practices for the use of biometrics in authenticating existing digital identities. It follows on from the considerations presented in the Digital Onboarding and Biometrics paper from 2021.